IRLF 


««5£«s«Ss$s«S«««3$ 


REESE    LIBRARY 


UNIVERSITY   OF   CALIFORNIA. 

Received. 
Accessions  No..4*  Shelf 


INJURIOUS  INSECTS 


OF    THE 


FARM  m  GARDEN 


BY 

MARY    TREAT 


OF   THE 
Y    'LLUSTRA,TEt,. 


NEW    YORK: 

ORANGE    JUDD     COMPANY, 

751    BROADWAY. 

1882. 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1882,  by  tbo 

ORANGE  JUDD   COMPANY, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


PUBLISHERS'    PREFACE. 


The  assertion  that  cultivation  of  all  plants,  whether  on 
the  farm,  in  the  orchard  or  garden,  is  largely  a  struggle 
with  insects,  has  been  strikingly  illustrated  within  the 
past  few  years.  The  standard  works  upon  Entomology 
include  the  harmless  as  well  as  the  injurious  insects,  and 
are  written  with  reference  to  the  identification  of  the  spe- 
cies rather  than  to  show  how  they  may  be  destroyed.  In 
view  of  the  need  of  a  work  giving  an  account  of  the  most 
destructive  insects  and  the  present  knowledge  of  the 
methods  of  preventing  their  ravages,  the  Publishers  in- 
vited Mrs.  Treat  to  prepare  the  present  volume.  The 
fact  that  she  has  largely  availed  herself  of  the  works 
of  Prof.  Riley,  U.  S.  Entomologist,  gives  this  book  a 
special  value. 


PREFACE. 


Only  those  who  live  in  the  country  are  aware  how 
much  the  success  of  cultivators,  whether  of  farm  or  gar- 
den crops,  depends  upon  insects.  There  is  a  surprising 
lack  of  knowledge  among  otherwise  well  educated  people 
as  to  the  life  history  of  even  the  most  common  insects. 
The  questions  asked,  not  only  by  those  in  my  immediate 
neighborhood,  but  by  letters  from  all  parts  of  the  coun- 
try, show  how  slight  is  the  popular  knowledge  on  this 
most  important  branch  of  Natural  History.  In  view  of 
this,  and  to  bring  a  knowledge  of  the  most  destructive  in- 
sects within  reach  of  all,  this  volume  has  been  prepared. 
It  will  not  be  necessary  to  say  to  those  who  make  use 
of  this  work  that  the  author  has  availed  herself  of  the 
permission  of  Prof.  C.  V.  Eiley,  to  make  use  of  his  vari 
ous  contributions  to  economic  entomology. 

MARY  TKEAT. 
Vineland,  N.  </.,  July,  1882. 


CONTENTS. 


lutroductiou , 7 

INSECTS  INJURIOUS  TO  GARDEN  VEGETABLES. 


Asparagus 15 

Bean 19 

Cabbage 21 

Rape-butterfly 23 

Pot-herb  Butterfly 24 

Southern  Cabbage-butterfly. 27 

Cabbagc-Plusia 29 

Zebra  Caterpillar 31 

A  New  Cabbatre-woroi   33 

The  Wavy-striped  Flea-bee- 
tle  35 

The  Harlequin  Cabbage- bug. 37 

Cucumber 42 

iStriped  Cucumber-beetle.  ..42 


Cucumber. 

The  Pickle-worm 45 

Melon — The  Melon-worm 48 

Onion 52 

The  Black  Onion-fly 52 

Imported  Onion-fly 53 

Parsley  and  Related  Plants 55 

Pea 56 

Radish 61 

Squash  and  Pumpkin 61 

The  Squash-bug 61 

The  12-spotted  Squash-bee- 
tle  63 

Tomato ...65 


INSECTS  INJURIOUS  TO  ROOT  CROPS  AND  INDIAN  CORN. 


Indian  Corn 67 

The  Corn-worm 68 

Seed-corn  Maggot 72 

,,  TheWhiteGrub 73 

Cut- worm  sTTTT. 78 

Wire-worms 81 

•—« — ~~Tr~~False 82 

The  Potato 83 

The  Stalk-borer 83 

The  Stalk-weevil 85 

The  Potato-worm 86 

The  Striped  Blister-beetle. .  .89 
The  Ash-gray  Blister-beetle. 90 
The    Black -rat    and    Black 
Blister-beetles. . .  . .  .91 


The  Potato. 

The  Margined  Blister-beetle  92 
The  Three-lined  Leaf-bee- 
tle   92 

The  Colorado  Potato-beetle  94 

Sweet  Potato 102 

Tortoise-beetles 102 

The  Two-striped  Sweet-po- 
tato Beetle 105 

The  Golden  Tortoise-beetle.106 
The  Pale-thighed  Tortoise- 

beetle 108 

The  Black-legged  Tortoise- 
beetle 109 

Turnip  and  Ruta-Baga 110 


INSECTS  INJURIOUS  TO  CEREAL  GRAINS  AND  THE   GRASS  CROPS,  IN- 
CLUDING CLOVER. 


Grains— The  Chinch-bug 112 

False  Chinch-bugs 117 

The  Hessian  Fly 120 

The  Wheat-Midge 123 

The  Joint-worm 124 

Army  Worms 129 

5 


Grains— Northern  Army  Worm.  130 
Wheat-head  Army  Worm.. 134 

Clover 135 

Clover-seed  Midge 135 

Clover  Root-borer 136 

The  Clover- worm 137 


CONTENTS. 


INSECTS  INJURIOUS  TO  FRUIT  TREES. 


Apple-tree  Borer,  Round-head- 
ed  139 

Apple-tree  Borer,  Flat-headed.  .144 

Apple- twig  Borer 145 

Harris'  Bark-louse.   147 

Oyster-shell  Bark-louse 148 

Apple-tree  Tent-caterpillar 151 

Tent-caterpillar  of  the  Forest.  .155 

Fall  Web-worm 160 

The    Apple  -  worm  —  Codling- 

motU. 161 

The  Apple-maggot 164 

The  Apple-curculio 165 


The  Canker-worm. 


"TlieRed-humped  Caterpillar. . .170 

The  Twig-girdler 171 

The  New  York  Weevil 172 

Climbing  Cut-worms 174 

The  Bag,  Basket,  or  Drop-worm  177 
The  Slug  of  Pear  and  Cherry- 
tree 182 

The  Peach-borer 188 

The  Plum-curculio 185 

The  Periodical,  or  17-year  Cica- 
da.., ..190 


INSECTS  INJURIOUS  TO  SMALL  FRUITS. 


The  Currant  and  Gooseberry. .  .199 

Gooseberry  Span-worm 199 

The     Imported      Currant- 
worm 202 

The  Native  Currant-worm. 205 
The  Currant  Stalk-borer. .  .206 

The  Strawberry 206 

The  Strawberry-worm 207 

The  Strawberry  Leaf-beetle.208 
The  Strawberry  Leaf-roller.209 
The     Strawberry     Crown- 
borer 209 

The  Blackberry 210 

Blackberry -borers 212 

The  Raspberry 213 

The  Snowy  Tree-cricket. .  .214 

The  Grape-vine 215 

The  Hog-caterpillar  of  the 

Vine 215 

The  Achemon  Sphinx 219 


The  Grape-vine. 

The  Satellite  Sphinx 220 

The  Abbot  Sphinx 224 

The  Blue  Caterpillars  of  the 

Vine 226 

The  Eight-spotted  Forest- 
er  226 

The  BeautifulWood  Nymph  228 
The  Pearl  Wood  Nymph. .  .229 

The  Grape  Leaf -folder 231 

The  Common  Yellow  Bear.233 

The  Grape-vine  Plume 235 

The  Grape-berry  Moth 238 

The  Grape-vine  Flea-beetle. 241 

The  Spotted  Pelidnota 244 

The    Rose-bug,    or    Rose- 
chafer 245 

S  The  Grape  Phylloxera 248 

I  The  Grape  Leaf -hopper. . .  .259 
The  Cranberry 260 


THE  INSECTS  OF  THE  FLOWER  GARDEN  AND  GREENHOUSE. 

The  Rose-slug .  .263  I  Ichnumon  Flies  on  Aphides . .  .265 

Plant-lice— Aphides 265  |  The  Mealy-bug 267 


THE  ROCKY  MOUNTATN  LOCUST. 


UNIVERSITY 


INJURIOUS    INSECTS    OF    THE 
FARM    AND    GARDEN. 


INTRODUCTION. 

It  is  not  the  object  of  this  little  volume  to  teach  the 
science  of  Entomology,  or  to  give  the  life-history  of  in- 
sects. It  is  simply  intended  to  group  together  the  most 
injurious  insects  with  illustrations,  that  the  cultivator 
may  see,  at  a  glance,  his  enemies,  and  learn  the  best 
known  methods  of  repelling  or  destroying  them.  Still 
there  are  some  points  regarding  their  general  structure 
and  changes  that  may  be  briefly  stated. 

The  true  insects  are  distinguished  from  some  related 
animals,  the  crustaceans,  myriapods,  and  others,  by  hav- 
ing in  their  perfect  state  six  legs  (the  others  having 
either  more  or  none),  and  generally,  though  not  always, 
wings. 

The  insect  has  three  distinct  parts :  the  head,  in  which 
are  the  organs  of  sense;  the  thorax,  to  which  are  attached 
the  legs  and  wings;  and  the  abdomen,  which  contains  the 
reproductive  organs.  They  breathe  through  breathing 
holes  (spiracles)  placed  along  the  sides  of  the  body, 
which  communicate  with  the  air  tubes  within. 
7 


8  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

Insects  exist  in  four  different  stages.  First,  the  egg; 
second,  the  larva;  third,  the  pupa  or  chrysalis;  and 
fourth,  the  imago,  or  perfect  insect. 

The  parent  insect  never  makes  mistakes  in  providing 
for  posterity,  but  deposits  her  eggs  on  or  in  just  the  kind 
of  food  her  young  requires.  With  most  insects  the  par- 
ents live  upon  a  very  different  kind  of  food  from  that  on 
which  their  numerous  offspring  feed,  and  this  makes  it 
seem  all  the  more  wonderful  that  they  should  know  so 
well  where  to  place  their  eggs.  The  eggs  hatch  some- 
times within  a  few  days,  others  take  weeks,  and  some 
pass  the  winter  mouths,  and  hatch  with  the  warmth  of  the 
spring  sun.  It  is  noticable  that  those  eggs  that  are  not  to 
be  hatched  until  the  following  spring,  are  not  attached 
to  the  leaves  or  other  perishable  part  of  a  tree  or  shrub, 
but  are  securely  glued  to  the  bark  of  a  twig  or  branch; 
they  are,  moreover,  often  covered  with  a  kind  of  varnish 
which  protects  them  from  the  rains.  Unlike  other  eggs, 
those  of  insects  are  not  injured  by  intense  cold. 

The  young  of  all  insects,  of  whatever  class,  are  called 
larva  (plural  larvce,  a  Latin  word  meaning  a  mask — it 
being  in  this  stage  so  unlike  the  perfect  insect  that  its 
real  form  may  be  said  to  be  masked).  Distinct  names 
are  popularly  given  to  the  larvae  of  different  insects. 
The  larvae  of  Butterflies  and  Moths  are  known  as  cater- 
pillars; those  of  the  Beetles  are  called  grubs,  and  when 
they  live  in  the  wood  of  trees,  etc.,  borers;  the  larvae  of 
the  two- winged  flies  are  known  as  maggots.  In  a  general 
way,  larvae  of  most  kinds  are  popularly  called  "worms," 
which,  though  incorrect,  has  for  some  insects,  as  has 
the  term  "bug"  for  others,  been  adopted  by  entomolo- 
gists as  the  common  name  for  the  larvae  of  certain  spe- 
cies— for  example,  "  Army- worm,"  "  Canker-worm,"  etc. 

The  larva  is  the  growing  state  of  the  insect,  in  which 
it  feeds  voraciously,  moulting,  or  throwing  off  its  skin 
from  time  to  time  until  its  full  size  is  attained.  The 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  9 

larval  stage  may  last  but  for  a  week  or  two,  but  in  some 
insects  is  known  to  extend  over  several  years.  In  some 
insects,  as  the  Mosquitoes  and  Dragon  Flies,  the  life  of 
the  larva  is  passed  entirely  in  the  water. 

When  the  larva  has  made  its  full  growth  it  passes  into 
the  state  of  the  pupa — (the  name  for  an  infant  rolled  up 
in  bandages  after  the  manner  of  the  ancient  Romans), 
this  is  also  called  chrysalis,  from  the  Greek  word  for 
gold,  as  some  have  gold-like  markings.  Most  insects  are 
in  this  state  perfectly  dormant,  while  a  few,  as  will  be 
noticed  further  on,  remain  active.  Some  in  their  last 
moult  appear  as  if  swathed  in  a  hard  mummy-like  case, 
others  make  a  cocoon  of  silken  threads,  like  the  Silk- 
worm, in  which  to  assume  this  state;  some  make  a  hol- 
low chamber  in  the  earth  for  the  same  purpose;  and  a 
number  draw  together  leaves  to  form  a  covering  to  hide 
them  while  in  the  pupa  state. 

The  insect  may  remain  in  the  pupa  state  for  a  few  days 
or  weeks,  or  it  may  pass  the  winter  in  this  dormant  con- 
dition. The  methods  by  which  the  escape  from  this 
imprisonment  is  made  at  the  proper  time,  are  various 
and  interesting  to  the  observer.  In  due  time  it  comes 
forth,  and  when,  as  in  the  case  of  some  moths,  it  has 
spread  and  dried  its  wings,  it  seems  wonderful  that  it 
could  have  been  packed  in  so  small  a  space. 

The  perfect  insect  which  is  usually  provided  with 
wings,  is  also  called  the  Imago,  the  Latin  for  an  appear- 
ance or  an  image. 

In  the  study  of  insects,  it  is  convenient  to  bring  them 
together  in  what  are  termed  Orders,  according  to  their 
general  resemblances.  There  are  seven  of  these  Orders, 
each  of  which  is  subdivided  into  families,  genera,  etc. 
While  entomologists  differ  as  to  the  minor  divisions, 
these  Orders  are  generally  followed  in  modern  works.  The 
first,  and  regarded  as  the  highest  Order  is 


10 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


ORDER    I.— HYMENOPTERA.— THE    BEES, 

WASPS.,  ANTS,  ICHNEUMON  FLIES,  ETC. 


1. — STRAWBERRY  PLY. 


The  name  Hymenoptera,  is  from  the  Greek  words  for 
6  ( membrane  "  and  i '  wing. "  The  Greek  word  Pteron, ' '  a 
wing,"  plural  Ptera,  "  wings,"  is  used  in  forming  the 
names  of  all  the  Orders.  The  insects  of  this  Order,  (with 

the  exception  of  the  Saw- 
flies  and  Horn-tails,  which 
are  vegetable  feeders),  are 
highly  useful  to  man.  They 
may  be  regarded  as  guards 
over  the  rest  of  the  insect 
world,  as  they  serve  to  keep 
injurious  insects  greatly  in 
check.  This  Order  ranks  the  highest  in  intelligence,  and 
many  of  the  insects  placed  here  possess  wonderful  archi- 
tectural skill.  In  some  of  the  families  the  young  are 
provided  with  nurses,  who  feed  and  tend  them  with  the 
greatest  care  and  apparent  affection.  Many  are  provided 
with  stings  which  are  used  as  weapons  of  defence. 

OEDER    II.— COLEOPTER  A. —BEETLES,    OR 
SHIELD-WINGED  INSECTS. 

The  Greek  word  Koleos,  a  "sheath,"  combined  with 
that  for  "wing,"  makes  up  the  scientific  name  of  this 
important  Order,  which 
outranks  all  others  in 
the  number  and  diver- 
sity of  its  species.  The 
insects  have  two  pairs 
of  wings,  the  upper  of 
which,  usually  horny  or 

leathery  in  texture,  cov-        Fi£-  2. -LARVA.       Fig.  3. 
er  and  form  a  "  sheath  "  for  a  pair  of  large  membranous 


-BEETLE. 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


11 


wings,  which  are  folded  and  concealed  beneath  them. 
These  wing-cases,  called  Elytra,  usually  meet  together 
with  a  straight  line,  or  suture,  down  the  back.  The 
larvae  are  popularly  known  as  grubs  and  borers;  some 
live  entirely  below  ground,  some  are  aquatic,  while 
others  live  upon  foliage.  This  Order  includes  some  of 
the  most  injurious  insects,  and  at  the  same  time  many 
carnivorous  species,  which  aid  in  keeping  the  vegetable- 
feeders  in  check. 

ORDER  III.— LEPIDOPTER  A. —BUTTERFLIES 
AND  MOTHS. 


The  wings  of  these  insects  when  touched  leave  a  dust 
upon  the  fingers;  this,  when  examined  by  a  magnifier,  is 


Fig.  5.— CHRYSALIS. 


Fig.  4. — LARVA. 


Fig.  6.— MOTH. 


found  to  consist  of  minute  scales,  hence  from  the  Greek 
word,  Lepis,  a  scale,  we  get  the  name  Lepidoptera,  or 
scaly-winged  insects.  The  larvae,  generally  known  as 
Caterpillars,  present  a  great  variety  of  forms,  and  are 
all  strikingly  different  from  the  perfect  or  parent  insects. 
As  these  are  generally  vegetable-feeders,  the  Order  is. 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


regarded  as  the  most  injurious  of  the  seven.  Notwith- 
standing this,  in  their  perfect  state,  they  are  among  the 
most  beautiful  creatures  in  the  insect  world.  The  Order 
is  divided  into  Butterflies  and  Moths.  The  former  are 
day-fliers,  and  their  feelers  or  antennce  are  thickened  at 
the  end,  and  terminate  in  a  kind  of  knob.  The  moths 
have  their  feelers  pointed  at  the  tip,  and  sometimes  with 
small  side-branches.  They  mostly  fly  at  night,  but  a 
subdivision  of  them  fly  at  twilight. 

ORDER  IV.— HEMIPTERA.— THE  TRUE  BUGS. 

This  Order,  (the  name  of  which  means  "  half-winged," 
a  portion  of  the  front  wings  being  thick  and  leathery), 
includes  some  very  injurious 
insects — as  the  Chinch-bug, 
Squash-bug,  Plant-lice,  and 
the  disgusting  Bed-bug,  while 
some  are  carnivorous.  The 


Fig.  7.— WHEEirBUG  (Reduvius).  Fig.  8.— HESSIAN  ms?. 

larvae  have  much  the  appearance  of  the  perfect  insect, 
simply  differing  from  them  in  the  lack  of  wings.  The 
Reduvius,  or  Wheel-bug,  fig.  7,  is  an  example  of  the  car- 
nivorous and  useful  insects  of  this  Order.  The  character 
of  the  larvae  is  seen  in  the  engraving  of  the  Chinch-bug. 

ORDER  V. — DIPTER  A. —Two- WINGED  INSECTS. 

This  is  the  only  Order  of  insects  that  have  but  two 
wings  (a  fact  expressed  in   the  name).     It  comprises  a 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


13 


great  number  of  species.  Not  even  the  Coleoptera,  can 
vie  with  it  in  numbers.  And  it  embraces  some  of  the 
most  annoying  insects — as  the  Mosquito,  Horse-fly,,  Gnat, 
and  House-fly,  also  many  that  are  decidedly  injurious  to 
vegetation — as  the  Ilessian-ily,  Wheat-midge,  Onion- 
maggot,  etc.,  etc.  But  many  of  the  larvae  act  the  part  of 
scavengers,  and  some  few  are  beneficial  to  the  agricul- 
turist— as  the  Syrphus  and  Tacldna  flies.  The  young  of 
this  Order  are  known  as  Maggots. 

ORDER  VI.— ORTHOPTERA.— STRAIGHT- WINGED 

INSECTS. 


The  name  of  this  Order  is  from  the  Greek,  Orthos, 
straight,"  the  insects  have  long  bodies,  straight  wings, 


Fig.  9. — THE  LUBBER  GRASSHOPPER  OP  FLORIDA. 

large  heads,  and  strong  jaws.  It  includes  Grasshoppers, 
Locusts,  Cockroaches,  Crickets,  and  Walking-sticks.  The 
larvae  look  very  much  like  the  parents,  except  in  their 
usually  smaller  wings. 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS. 


ORDER   VIL—  NEUROPTER  A.  —NERVE-WINGED 

INSECTS. 

This  Order  takes    in   the    Dragon-flies,    Lace-wings, 
White-ants,  etc.     The  veins  in  the  wings  of  these  insects 

are  so  numerous,  that 
they  look  like  net- 
work, and  give  the 
name,  from  Neuron, 
nerve,  to  the  Order. 
These  insects  do  no 
harm,  with  the  excep- 

Flg.  10.-AQUATIC  LAKVA  OF    DRAGOS-FLY. 


and  Book-lice.  Some  are  quite  beneficial  to  man,  both 
in  the  larval  and  winged  states.  The  larvae  of  the 
Dragon-flies  are  aquatic,  and  exceedingly  voracious;  they 


Fig.  11.— DRAGON-FLY. 

prey  upon  the  larvae  of  Mosquitoes,  and  in  the  perfect 
insects  destroy  vast  numbers  of  winged  Mosquitoes. 


Insects  Injurious 


UNIVERSITY 


n  Vegetables, 


ASPARAGUS. 
THE    ASPARAGUS    BEETLE. 

(Crioceris  asparagi,  Linn.) 

About  1860,  the  Asparagus  Beetle  was  accidentally  in- 
troduced into  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  from  the  other  side  of 
the  Atlantic;  and  in  a  very  few  years  it  had  increased 
and  multiplied,  among  the  extensive  asparagus  planta- 
tions in  that  locality,  to  such  an  extent  as  to  occasion  a 
dead  loss  of  some  fifty  thousand  dollars  in  a  single 
county.  In  the  year  1868,  it  had 
already  crossed  over  from  Long 
Island  on  to  the  adjoining  main  land; 
and  thence  was  spread  westward. 

That  our  readers  may  recognize 
at  once  this  pernicious  insect  as  soon 
as  they  see  it,  we  annex  figures  of  it 
in  its  various  stages.  The  perfect 
beetle  (shown  at  a,  fig.  12,  much 
enlarged,  the  lines  indicating  the 
real  size),  is  of  a  deep  blue-black 
color,  with  the  thorax  brick-red, 
and  some  markings  of  very  variable 
shape  and  size  on  the  side  of  its 
wing-cases.  The  eggs  (b)  are  gen- 
erally attached  to  the  leaves  of  the 
growing  asparagus,  and  are  of  a 
blackish  color.  The  larva  (magnified  at  c)  is  of  a  dull 
ash  color,  with  a  black  head  and  six  black  legs  placed  at 
15 


Fig.  12. 

ASPARAGUS  BEETLE. 

(  Crioceris  asparagi. ) 
a,  Beetle  ;  ft,  Eggs ;  c,  Larva. 


16  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

the  forward  end  of  the  body,  the  tail  end  being  used  as  a 
pro-leg  in  walking,  as  with  the  larvae  of  most  of  the 
allied  beetles.  The  insect  passes  the  winter  under  loose 
bark  and  in  other  such  sheltered  situations,  in  the  perfect 
or  beetle  state;  and  in  May,  or  soon  after  the  season  for 
cutting  the  asparagus  for  table  use  has  commenced,  it 
conies  forth  from  its  winter  quarters  and  lays  the  first 
brood  of  eggs.  These  hatch  out  in  about  eight  days,  and 
by  the  middle  of  June  the  first  brood  of  larvae  are  large 
enough  to  be  noticed,  eating  the  bark  off  the  more  tender 
part  of  the  young  stems  first,  and  in  default  of  this  con- 
suming the  tougher  and  harder  bark  of  the  main  stalks. 
About  the  end  of  June  they  descend  to  the  ground,  and 
either  going  under  the  surface  of  the  earth,  or  hiding 
under  any  rubbish  that  may  have  accumulated  there, 
form  slight  cocoons  and  pass  into  the  pupa  state.  From 
these  pupae  there  bursts  forth  the  same  season  a  second 
brood  of  beetles,  which  lays  its  eggs  as  before,  and  pro- 
duces about  the  middle  of  August  a  second  brood  of 
larvae  or  grubs,  whence  in  the  same  manner  as  before 
there  conies  forth  in  September  the  brood  of  beetles 
which  is  destined  to  pass  the  winter  in  the  beetle  state 
and  reproduce  the  species  in  the  following  spring. 

According  to  Dr.  Fitch,  who  published  an  excellent 
account  of  the  depredations  of  this  insect  on  Long 
Island  up  to  the  year  1862,  one  asparagus  grower  there 
had  three  acres  out  of  seven  "almost  ruined;"  and  four 
others  had  asparagus  beds  so  badly  injured  that  they 
plowed  them  up.  Throughout  this  entire  region  the  gen- 
eral idea  up  to  1862  seems  to  have  been,  that  if  this 
beetle  was  not  soon  destroyed,  the  asparagus  would  be; 
for  every  year  the  insect  appeared  to  spread  further  and 
further,  extending  already  for  a  distance  of  at  least  forty 
miles  along  the  northern  side  of  Long  Island,  and  every 
year  it  got  to  be  more  numerous  and  more  destructive. 
Lime,  salt,  potash,  and  a  variety  of  other  such  applica- 


OF  THE   *AltM   A.ND    G 

tions,  had  all  been  tried  and  found  ineffectual  as  reme- 
dies; domestic  fowls,  which,  as  Dr.  Fitch  ascertained,  fed 
greedily  upon  the  beetles,  could  scarcely  be  used  in  suffi- 
cient numbers  to  clear  fields  of  ten  and  twenty  acres  in 
extent;  and  as  to  hand-picking  twenty-acre  fields,  espe- 
cially where  the  insect  is  so  small,  that  would  be  too  dis- 
couraging an  idea  to  be  entertained  for  a  moment. 

But  in  the  year  1863,  as  we  learn  from  Isaac  Hicks,  of 
Long  Island,  a  deliverer  appeared  in  the  form  of  a  small 
shining  black  parasitic  fly,  probably  belonging  either  to 
the  Chalets  or  to  the  Proctotrupes  Family.  Whether  this 
Fly  lays  its  eggs  in  the  eggs  of  the  Asparagus  Beetles,  or 
in  the  larva  of  that  insect,  does  not  seem  at  present  to 
be  clearly  ascertained;  but  if  the  accounts  we  have  re- 
ceived of  it  be  correct,  it  must  do  either  one  or  the  other. 
In  the  former  case,  the  larva  that  hatches  out  from  the 
parasitic  egg  will  consume  the  egg  of  the  Asparagus 
Beetle  and  entirely  prevent  it  from  hatching;  in  the  lat- 
ter case  it  will  destroy  the  larva  before  it  has  time  to  pass 
into  the  perfect  state.  The  result,  in  either  event,  will 
be  equally  destructive  to  the  bug  and  beneficial  to  the 
gardener.  Thus  we  are  told,  "although  the  Asparagus 
Beetle  has  not  entirely  ceased  to  trouble  them  upon  Long 
Island  since  1863,  it  yet  has  never  since  that  year  been 
of  any  very  material  damage  there.  Upon  a  few  farms  it 
still  strips  the  plants  in  the  latter  part  of  summer,  but 
not  to  much  extent  or  so  as  to  entail  any  very  serious 


But  the  diminution  in  the  numbers  of  the  Asparagus 
Beetle  is  probably  due  in  part  to  artificial,  as  well  as  nat- 
ural causes.  The  Asparagus  growers  upon  Long  Island 
have  introduced  a  method  of  fighting  the  insect,  which 
is  founded  upon  correct  principles,  and  seems  to  be  fol- 
lowed by  very  gratifying  results.  Early  in  the  spring, 
when  the  Beetle  has  made  its  appearance  and  is  ready  to 
lay  its  eggs,  "they  destroy,"  as  we  are  informed,  "all 


18  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

the  plants  upon  the  farm  except  the  large  plants  for 
market,  hoeing  up  all  the  young  seedlings  that,  as  is  well 
known,  start  from  the  last  year's  seed  every  spring  upon 
the  beds."  Thus  the  mother-beetle  is  forced  to  lay  her 
eggs  upon  the  large  shoots  from  the  old  stools;  and  as 
these  are  cut  and  sent  to  market  every  few  days,  there 
are  no  eggs  left  to  hatch  out  into  larvae  for  the  second 
brood  of  beetles. 

At  first  sight  we  might  suppose  that  it  would  be  possi- 
ble, by  carrying  out  the  above  system  to  its  utmost 
extent,  to  extirpate  the  insect  entirely.  But  unfortu- 
nately this  can  not  be  done.  Asparagus,  according  to 
Dr.  Fitch,  has  run  wild  to  a  considerable  extent  upon 
Long  Island,  "and  slender  spindling  stalks  of  it  may  be 
seen  growing  in  all  situations  there,  by  the  roadsides,  in 
the  fields  and  in  the  woods.  Thus  the  Asparagus  Beetle 
has  such  an  abundance  of  food  everywhere  presented  to 
it,  and  the  insect  is  already  occupying  such  an  extent  of 
territory,  that  there  seems  to  be  no  mode  by  which  it  is 
now  possible  for  us  to  effect  its  extermination." 

To  many  persons,  perhaps,  such  a  crop  as  Asparagus 
may  seem  of  but  very  trifling  importance  in  a  pecuniary 
point  of  view.  But  we  have  already  seen  upon  how  large 
a  scale  it  is  cultivated  on  Long  Island,  in  the  State  of 
New  York;  and  a  writer  in  the  "  American  Journal  of 
Horticulture,"  who  hails  from  New  Jersey,  remarks  as 
follows:  "We  plant  Asparagus  in  great  fields  of  ten  to 
twenty  acres.  Well  planted,  it  will  cost  a  hundred  dol- 
lars to  set  an  acre;  but  it  will  continue  productive  for 
twenty  years;  and  if  properly  cared  for,  each  acre  will 
clear  two  hundred  dollars  annually.  There  are  men  all 
around  me  who  have  made  small  fortunes  out  of  this 
single  article." 


OJtf   THE    EAliM    AND    GARDEN.  19 

BEAN. 

THE    AMERICAN    BEAN-WEEVIL. 
(Bruchus  fabce,  Riley.) 

This  Weevil  appears  to  be  a  native  American  insect 
and  doubtless  fed  originally  on  some  kind  of  wild  bean 
(Phaseolus  or  Lathyrus),  but  it  was  first  noticed  in  our 
cultivated  beans  about  the  year  1861,  in  Khode  Island, 
and  has  since,  at  different  times,  suddenly  made  its 
appearance  in  several  other  parts  of  the  country. 

If,  as  has  been  supposed,  it  possibly  occurs  over  large 
tracts  of  our  country,  the  fact  that,  until  a  few  years  ago, 
it  had  never  been  collected  by  any  American  entomolo- 
gist, would  strongly  intimate  that,  in  what  may  be 
termed  its  wild  state,  it  was  quite  rare  and  had  a  limited 
range.  But  even  if  it  should  occur  in  this  wild  state 
more  generally  through  the  country  than  the  facts  would 
lead  us  to  believe,  there  is  nevertheless  more  danger  of 
its  being  introduced  into  a  bean  field  hitherto  exempt  by 
the  planting  of  infested  cultivated  beans,  than  by  its 
spreading  from  the  wild  food.  And  if  once  a  few  buggy 
beans  are  planted,  they  will  in  a  short  time  infest  the  other 
beans  cultivated  in  the  neighborhood,  so  that  the  man 
who,  year  after  year,  grows  his  own  seed,  will  suffer  as 
much  as  the  man  who  originally  introduces  the  weevils 
from  afar. 

Except  in  being  smaller,  the  larva  and  pupa  of  this 
weevil  have  a  close  resemblance  to  those  of  the  Pea- 
weevil,  and  its  habits  are  very  similar,  with  the  excep- 
tion that  the  female  deposits  a  greater  number  of  eggs 
on  a  single  pod,  so  that  sometimes  over  a  dozen  larvse 
enter  a  single  bean.  As  many  as  fourteen  have  been 
counted  in  one  bean,  and  the  space  required  for  each  indi- 
vidual to  develop  is  not  much  more  than  sufficient  to 


30  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

snugly  contain  the  beetle.  The  little  spot  where  tho 
Pea-weevil  entered  can  always  be  detected,  even  in  the 
dry  pea,  but  in  the  bean  these  points  of  entrance  become 
almost  entirely  obliterated.  The  cell  in  which  the  trans- 
formations take  place  is  more  perfect  and  smooth,  and 
the  lining  is  easily  distinguished  from  the  meat  of  the 
bean  by  its  being  more  white  and  opaque.  The  excre- 
ment is  yellow,  or  darker  than  the  meat,  and,  even 
where  a  bean  is  so  badly  infested  that  the  inside  is  en- 
tirely reduced  to  this  excrementitious  powder,  each 

larva,  before  transforming, 
manages  to  form  for  itself  a 
complete  cell,  which  sepa- 
rates it  from  the  rest  of  its 
brethren.  The  eye-spot,  as 
in  the  pea,  is  perfectly  cir- 
cular and  quite  transparent 
13.— THE  BEAN-WEEVIL  in  white-skinned  varieties,  so 

(Bruchusfaba,.)  ^    t    infegtcd    beang     Qf    this 

a,  Weevil,  magnified,  the  real  size  in 

outline  -.b,  infested  Bean.  kind  are  easily  distinguished 

by  the  bluish-black  spots  which  they  exhibit  (fig.  13,  b). 
Dark  beans  when  infested  are  not  so  easily  distinguished. 
The  germ  is  always  found  either  untouched  or  only 
partially  devoured,  even  in  the  worst  infested  beans,  so 
that  when  but  two  or  three  weevils  inhabit  a  bean,  it 
would  doubtless  grow;  but  where  the  meat  is  entirely 
destroyed,  as  it  often  is,  the  bean  would  hardly  grow 
though  the  germ  remained  intact,  and  it  would  certainly 
not  produce  a  vigorous  plant.  Figure  13,  a,  gives  the 
weevil  magnified,  its  real  size  being  shown  by  the  small 
outline  at  the  left. 

Some  of  the  beetles  are  perfected  in  the  fall,  but  many 
of  them  not  until  the  following  spring,  so  that  there  is  the 
same  danger  of  introducing  them  in  seed-beans  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Pea-weevil.  The  remedies  and  preventives 
given  for  the  Pea- weevil  will  of  course  apply  equally  well 


OF  THE   FARM   AND  GARDEN.  21 

to  this,  and  every  bean -grower  who  reads  this  should 
make  an  effort  to  keep  the  scourge  out  of  his  own 
neighborhood,  by  urging  upon  others,  at  the  Farm- 
ers' Club,  or  at  the  meetings  of  any  local  societies,  the 
necessity  of  planting  only  sound  seed,  and  of  thoroughly 
destroying  any  that  may  be  received  from  abroad  and 
found  buggy. 


CABBAGE. 
CABBAGE    BUTTERFLIES, 

There  is  a  certain  group  of  butterflies,  known,  scien- 
tifically, by  the  name  of  Pieris,  to  farmers  as  "  Garden 
Whites  "  or  "  Cabbage  Butterflies."  They  are  easily  rec- 
ognized by  the  following  characters:  The  wings  are 
generally  white,  with  inconspicuous  black  markings,  and 
occasionally  with  green  or  yellow  underneath;  they  are 
very  broad,  and  have  no  scallops  or  indentations  in  the 
margin;  the  hind  wings  in  outline  resemble  an  egg. 
"  The  feelers  (palpi)  are  rather  slender,  but  project  be- 
yond the  head;  the  antennae  have  a  short,  flattened  knob. 
Their  flight  is  lazy  and  lumbering.  The  caterpillars  are 
nearly  cylindrical,  taper  a  little  towards  each  end,  and 
are  sparingly  clothed  with  short  down — which  requires  a 
microscope  to  be  distinctly  seen.  They  suspend  them- 
selves by  the  tail  and  a  transverse  loop,  and  their  chrysa- 
lids  are  angular  at  the  side  and  pointed  at  both  ends." 
(Harris. ) 

This  genus  is  interesting,  though  disagreeably  so,  to 
every  farmer,  for  the  different  species  are  very  destruc- 
tive to  various  vegetables — among  others,  cabbages,  nas- 
turtium, mignonette,  cauliflowers,  turnips,  and  carrots. 


%%  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

We  notice  only  three  of  the  species,  as  these  will  serve  to 
indicate  the  habits  of  the  whole  genus — which  every 
farmer  should  be  familiar  with,  so  that  he  may  be  able 
to  recognize  and  destroy  such  dangerous  foes. 

THE   RAPE   BUTTERFLY. 
(Pieris  rapce,  Schrank.) 

This  insect  has  been  the  occasion  of  some  little  specula- 
tion and  great  interest  to  our  New  England  and  Canadian 
entomologists,  inasmuch  as  it  has  been  introduced  to 
this  country  from  England,  and  is  probably  one  of  the 
most  perfect  instances  on  record  of  any  insect  being  im- 
ported from  one  country  to  another  and  becoming  com- 
pletely naturalized  in  its  new  quarters.  There  does  not 
seem  to  be  the  slightest  doubt  that  this  is  the  English 
species.  It  was  probably  introduced  in  1856  or  1857. 
It  was  first  taken  in  Quebec  in  1859,  and  in  1863  it  was 
captured  in  large  numbers  by  Mr.  Bowles  in  the  vicinity 
of  that  city.  As  the  eggs  are  laid  on  the  under  sides  of 
leaves,  it  was  probably  introduced  in  this  form,  the  re- 
fuse leaves  being  thrown  out  of  some  ship,  after  which 
the  larvae  hatched,  and,  finding  themselves  in  the  neigh- 
borhood of  their  food,  ate  and  flourished.  Being,  more- 
over, hardy  little  fellows,  they  were  perfectly  able  to  en- 
dure a  change  of  climate.  In  1864  it  had  spread  about 
forty  miles  from  Quebec  as  a  center;  in  1866  it  was  taken 
in  the  northern  parts  of  New  Hampshire  and  Vermont; 
in  1868  it  had  advanced  still  further  south,  and  was  seen 
near  Lake  Winnipesaugee;  in  1869  it  was  taken  around 
Boston,  Mass.,  and  a  few  stray  specimens  in  New  Jersey. 
Since  that  time  it  has  spread  over  a  wide  range  of  coun- 
try. The  larva  and  pupa  seem  to  have  an  unusual  power 
of  accommodating  themselves  to  circumstances — for  in- 
stance, Mr.  Curtis,  in  his  "Farm  Insects  of  England," 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  23 

states  that  the  caterpillars  have  been  found  feeding  on 
willow. 

The  larya  (fig,  14)  is  one  and  one-half  inch  long;  pale- 
green,  finely  dotted  with  black;  a  yellow  stripe  down  the 
back,  and  a  row  of  yellow  spots  along  each  side,  in  a  line 
with  the  breathing  holes.  In  England  and  around  Quebec 
it  has  done  immense  damage  to  the  cabbages  and  other 
CrucifercB  (Cress  Family),  by  boring  into  the  very  heart 
of  the  plant,  instead  of  being  content  with  the  less  valu- 
able outer  portion,  as  some  other  species  are.  On  this 
account  the  French  call  it  the  "  Ver  du  Cceur,"  or  Heart- 
worm.  When  about  to  transform,  it  leaves  the  plants  on 


Fig.  15.— CHRYSALIS.    Fig.  16.— BAPE  BUTTERFLY  (PleriS  rapce).—  FEMALE. 

which  it  has  been  living,  and  fastens  itself  on  the  under 
side  of  some  stone,  plank,  or  fence-rail,  where  it  changes 
into  a  chrysalis  in  the  middle  or  latter  part  of  Septem- 
ber, and  in  this  stage  it  hibernates,  producing,  in  New 
England,  at  least,  the  perfect  insect  early  in  April.  The 
chrysalis  or  pupa  (fig.  15)  is  variable  in  color,  being 
sometimes  yellowish-brown  or  yellow,  and  passing  thence 
into  green,  speckled  with  minute  black  dots.  The  brood 
of  butterflies  that  emerges  from  the  pupa  state  in  the 
spring  lays  eggs  shortly  afterwards,  and  these  eggs  pro- 
duce caterpillars,  which,  in  their  turn,  change  to  chrysa- 
lids  in  June,  and  in  seven  or  eight  days  more  the  butter- 
fly appears,  which  again  lays  its  eggs  for  the  second 
brood,  which,  as  before  stated,  hibernates  in  the  pupa  state. 


2  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

In  the  perfect  butterfly  the  body  and  head  are  black, 
and  the  wings  white,  marked  with  black,  as  follows:  In 
the  female  (fig.  16),  a  small  space  at  the  tip,  and  three 
spots  on  the  outer  half  of  the  front  wings,  and  one  spot 
on  the  hind  wings;  beneath,  one  spot  on  the  front  wings, 
but  none  on  the  hind  wings,  which  are  commonly  yel- 
lowish, sometimes  passing  into  green.  The  male  (fig.  17) 

has  only  one  spot  above 
and  two  beneath  on  the 
front  wings,  and  a  black 
dash  on  the  anterior 
edge  of  the  hind  wings. 
There  is  a  variety  of  the 
latter  sex  which  has  the 
same  markings,  but  dif- 
fers  from  the  type  in 

RAPE   BUTTERFLY   (Pieris  rap<K\— MALE.       . ,  ,          .       J\ 

the  ground  color  being 

canary  yellow.     Curiously  enough,  this  variety  has  been 
taken  both  in  this  country  and  in  England. 

These  butterflies  occasionally  assemble  in  great  num- 
bers. At  one  time  a  flight  crossed  the  English  channel 
from  France  to  England,  and  such  was  the  density  and 
the  extent  of  the  living  mass,  that  the  sun  was  completely 
obscured  for  a  distance  of  many  hundred  yards  from  the 
people  on  board  a  ship  that  was  passing  underneath  this 
strange  cloud. 

THE    POT-HERB    BUTTERFLY. 
(Pieris  oleracea,  Boisd.) 

This  species  has  a  very  wide  range,  reaching  rarely  as 
far  south  as  Pennsylvania,  extending  eastward  to  Nova 
Scotia,  and  at  least  as  far  west  as  Lake  Superior,  while 
in  the  north  it  is  found  as  high  up  as  the  Great  Slave 
Lake  in  the  Hudson  Bay  Company's  territory.  This 


OF  THE  FAKM  AND 


butterfly  (fig.  18,  b)  has  a  black  body;  the  front  wings  are 
white,  marked  above  with  black  at  the  base,  along  the 
front  edge,  and  at  the  tip;  the  hind  wings  are  white 
above  and  lemon-yellow  beneath,  but  without  markings, 
except  a  few  black  scales  at  the  base. 

About  the  last  of  May  numerous  specimens  of  this 
species  may  be  seen  over  cabbage,  radish,  or  turnip  beds, 
or  patches  of  mustard,  where,  on  the  under  side  of  the 
leaves,  it  deposits  its  eggs.  These  are  yellowish,  nearly 
pear-shaped,  longitudinally  ribbed,  and  one-fifteenth  of 
an  inch  in  diameter,  and  are  seldom  laid  more  than  two 
or  three  together.  In  a  week  or  ten  days  the  young 
caterpillars  are  hatched;  in  three  weeks  more  they  have 
attained  their  full  growth,  which  is  an  inch  and  one-half 


.  19. — CHBYSALIS. 

long.  Being  slender  and 
green  (fig.  18,  a),  they 
are  not  readily  distin- 
guished from  the  leaves 
on  which  they  live. 
They  taper  a  little  to- 
ward each  end,  and  are 
densely  covered  with 
hairs.  They  begin  to 
eat  indiscriminately  on 
any  part  of  the  leaf.  When  they  have  completed  the 
feeding  stage,  they  quit  the  plants  and  retire  beneath 
palings,  etc.,  where  they  spin  a  little  tuft  of  silk,  en- 
tangle their  hindmost  feet  in  it,  and  then  proceed  to 
form  a  loop  to  sustain  the  front  part  of  the  body  in  a 
horizontal  or  vertical  position.  Bending  its  head  on  one 
side,  the  caterpillar  fastens  to  the  surface,  beneath  the 
middle  of  its  body,  a  silken  thread,  which  it  carries 
2 


Fig.  18.— POT-HERB  BUTTERFLY. 

(Pieris  okracea.) 
a,  Larva :  b,  Butterfly. 


26  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

across  its  back  and  secures  on  the  other  side,  and  repeats 
this  operation  until  a  band,  or  loop,  of  sufficient  strength 
is  formed.  On  the  next  day  it  casts  off  the  caterpillar 
skin,  and  becomes  a  chrysalis  (fig.  19).  This  is  of  a 
pale-green,  and  sometimes  of  a  white  color,  regularly 
and  finely  dotted  with  black;  the  sides  of  the  body  are 
angular,  the  head  is  surmounted  by  a  conical  tuber- 
cle, and  over  the  forepart  of  the  body,  corresponding  to 
the  thorax  of  the  included  butterfly,  is  a  thin  projection, 
having  in  profile  some  resemblance  to  a  Eoman  nose. 
The  insect  remains  in  this  stage  for  ten  or  twelve  days, 
when  the  butterfly  appears. 

In  the  last  of  July  and  first  of  August,  these  insects 
may  be  seen  in  large  numbers  depositing  their  eggs  for  a 
second  brood,  which,  wintering  in  the  pupa  state,  pro- 
duces the  perfect  insect  (fig.  18,  #)  the  following  May. 

This  butterfly  varies  considerably.  There  are  never, 
we  believe,  perfectly  white  specimens,  though  often 
nearly  so.  Again,  some  specimens  have  very  faint  indi- 
cations of  spots  arranged  as  in  P.  rapce;  but  on  the 
under  side  are  found  the  widest  limits  of  variation,  for 
not  only  do  the  tips  of  the  front  wings  become  distinctly 
greenish,  or  lemon-yellow,  and  the  veins  of  that  portion 
bordered  with  grayish  scales,  but  the  hind  wings  may 
also  have  the  ground  color  distinctly  greenish,  lemon- 
yellow,  or  whitish,  and  the  veins  display  gray  scales  on 
each  side. 

By  taking  advantage  of  the  habits  of  these  insects, 
they  might  be  nearly  exterminated.  If  boards  are  placed 
among  the  infested  plants,  about  two  inches  above  the 
ground,  the  caterpillars  when  about  to  change  will  resort 
to  them,  and  there  undergo  their  metamorphoses.  They 
may  then  be  collected  by  hand  on  the  under  side  of  the 
boards,  and  destroyed.  As  the  butterflies  are  slow  fliers. 
they  may  be  taken  in  a  net  and  killed.  A  short  handle, 
perhaps  four  feet  long,  with  a  wire  hoop,  and  bag-net  of 


0£  THE  FARM   AND    GARDEN.  21 

muslin  or  mosquito  netting,  are  all  that  are  required  to 
make  this  useful  implement.  The  titmouse  is  said  to 
eat  the  larvae,  and  should  therefore  be  protected  and 
encouraged. 

[The  descriptions  of  this  and  the  preceding  species  are 
condensed  from  an  article  by  Oh  as.  S.  Minot  in  "  Ameri- 
can Entomologist."] 

' 


.. 

THE   SOUTHEKN    CABBAGE   BUTTERFLY. 

(Pieris  Protodice,  Bo^^ 

This  species,  though  scarce  in  the  more  Northern 
States,  abounds  in  many  of  the  Southern  States,  where  it 
takes  the  place  of  the  two  species  just  described.  It  often 


Fig.  20. — SOUTHERN  CABBAGE  BUTTERFLY  (Pieris  Protodice). 
a,  Larva;  b.  Chrysalis. 

proves  exceedingly  injurious,  and  we  learn  from  a  Mis- 
sissippi journal  that  "  there  were  last  year  thousands  of 
dollars'  worth  of  cabbages  devastated  and  ruined  by 
worms  in  the  neighborhood  of  Corinth."  We  are  fur- 
thermore told,  that  cabbages  could  not,  in  consequence, 
be  had  there  even  at  ten  cents  per  head.  The  "worm  " 
referred  to,  was  doubtless  the  species  under  considera- 
tion. It  abounds  in  many  parts  of  Missouri,  and  especi- 
ally in  the  truck  gardens  around  large  cities,  where  it 
proves  quite  destructive  to  the  cabbages. 

The  larva  (fig.  20,  a),  may  be  summarily  described  as 


28 


INJTJKIOUS  INSECTS 


Fig.  21. 

SOUTHERN  CABBAGE  BUTTERFLY.- 


-FEMALE. 


a  soft  worm,  of  a  greenish-blue  color,  with  four  longitu- 
dinal yellow  stripes,  and  covered  with  black  dots.  When 
newly  hatched  it  is  of  a  uniform  orange  color  with  a 
black  head,  but  it  becomes  dull-brown  before  the  first 
moult,  though  the  longitudinal  stripes  and  black  spots 
are  only  visible  after  said  moult  has  taken  place. 

The  chrysalis  (fig. 
20,  £.),  averages  0.65 
inch  in  length,  and 
is  as  variable  in 
depth  of  ground-col- 
or, as  the  larva.  The 
general  color  is  light 
bluish-gray,  more  or 
less  intensely  speck- 
led with  black,  with 
the  ridges  and  promi- 
nences edged  with  buff  or  with  flesh-color,  and  having 
larger  black  dots. 

The  female  butterfly  (fig.  21),  differs  remarkably  from 
the  male  represented  at  figure  22.     It  will  be  seen,  upon 
comparing  these  fig- 
ures that  the  female 
is  altogether   darker 
than  the  male.     This 
sexual    difference   in 
appearance  is  purely 
colorational,  however, 
and  there  should  not 
be   the   difference  in 
the  form  of  the  wings 
which  the  two  figures 
would  indicate,  for  the  hind  wings  in  our  male  cut  are 
altogether  too  short  and  rounded. 

This  insect  may  be  found  in  all  its  different  stages 
through  the  months  of  July,  August,  and  September.    It 


Fig.  22. 

SOUTHERN  CABBAGE  BUTTERFLY.— MALE. 


OF  THE  FARM  AND   GARDEN.  29 

hibernates  in  the  chrysalis  state.  We  do  not  know  that 
it  feeds  on  anything  but  cabbage,  but  we  once  found  a 
male  chrysalis  fastened  to  a  stalk  of  the  common  "  Horse 
Nettle,"  (Solanum  Carolinense)  which  was  growing  in  a 
cemetery  with  no  cabbages  within  at  least  a  quarter  of  a 


THE    CABBAGE   PLUSIA. 
(Plusia  brassicce,  Riley.) 

This  is  the  next  most  common  insect  which  attacks  the 
Cabbage  with  us,  and  curiously  enough  it  has  never  yet 


Fig.  23.— THE  CABBAGE  PLUSIA  (Husia  brosswce). 
a,  Larva;  6,  Chrysalis ;  c,  Moth,  male. 

been  described.  It  is  a  moth  and  not  a  butterfly,  and 
flies  by  night  instead  of  by  day.  In  the  months  of  Au- 
gust and  September  the  larva  (fig.  23,  a),  may  be  found 
quite  abundant  on  this  plant?  gnawing  large  irregular 
holes  in  the  leaves.  It  is  a  pale-green  translucent  worm, 
marked  longitudinally  with  still  paler  more  opaque  lines, 
and  like  all  the  known  larvae  of  the  family  to  which  it 
belongs,  it  has  but  two  pair  of  abdominal  pro-legs,  the 


30  IKJUBIOUS  INSECTS 

two  anterior  segments,  which  are  usually  furnished  with 
such  legs  in  ordinary  caterpillars,  not  having  the  slight- 
est trace  of  any.  Consequently  they  have  to  loop  the 
body  in  marching,  as  represented  in  the  figure,  and  are 
true  Span  worms.  Their  bodies  are  very  soft  and  tender, 
and  as  they  live  exposed  on  the  outside  of  plants,  and 
often  rest  motionless,  with  the  body  arched,  for  hours  at 
a  time,  they  are  espied  and  devoured  by  many  of  their 
enemies,  such  as  birds,  toads,  etc.  They  are  also  sub- 
ject to  the  attacks  of  at  least  two  parasites  and  die  very 
often  from  disease,  especially  in  wet  weather,  so  that 
they  are  never  likely  to  increase  as  rapidly  as  the  butter- 
flies already  described. 

When  full  grown,  this  worm  weaves  a  very  thin,  loose, 
white  cocoon,  sometimes  between  the  leaves  on  which  it 
fed,  but  generally  chooses  some  more  sheltered  situation; 
and  changes  to  a  chrysalis  (fig.  23,  #,)  which  varies  from 
pale  yellowish-green  to  brown,  and  has  a  considerable 
protuberance  at  the  end  of  the  wing  and  leg-cases,  caused 
by  the  long  proboscis  of  the  enclosed  moth  being  bent 
back  at  that  point.  This  chrysalis  is  soft,  the  skin  being 
very  thin,  and  it  is  furnished  at  the  extremity  with  an 
obtuse  roughened  projection,  which  emits  two  converging 
points,  and  several  short  curled  bristles,  by  the  aid  of 
which  it  is  enabled  to  cling  to  its  cocoon. 

The  moth  is  of  a  dark  smoky-gray,  inclining  to 
brown,  variegated  with  light  grayish-brown,  and  marked 
in  the  middle  of  each  front  wing  with  a  small  oval  spot, 
and  a  somewhat  U-shaped  silvery-white  mark,  as  in  the 
engraving.  The  male  (fig.  23,  c,)  is  easily  distinguished 
from  the  female  by  a  large  tuft  of  golden  hairs  covering 
a  few  black  ones,  which  springs  from  each  side  of  his 
abdomen  towards  the  tip. 

The  suggestions  given  for  destroying  the  larvae  of  the 
Cabbage  Butterflies,  apply  equally  well  to  those  of  this 
Cabbage  Plusia,  and  drenchings  with  a  cresylic  wash  will 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


31 


be  found  even  more  effectual,  as  the  worms  drop  to  the 
ground  with  the  slightest  jar. 

THE    ZEBRA    CATERPILLAR. 
(Mamestra  picta,  Harr.) 

There  is  another  insect  which  often  proves  injurious 
to  our  cauliflowers  and  cabbages,  though  it  by  no  means 
confines  itself  to  these  two  vegetables.  Early  in  June 
the  young  worms,  which  are  at  first  almost  black,  though 
they  soon  become  pale  and  green,  may  be  found  in  dense 


Fig.  24.— THE  ZEBRA  CATERPILLAR  (Mamestra plcta). 
a,  Larva ;  b,  Moth. 

clusters  on  these  plants,  for  they  are  at  that  time  gre- 
garious. As  they  grow  older,  they  disperse  and  are  not 
so  easily  found,  and  in  about  four  weeks  from  the  time  of 
hatching,  they  come  to  their  full  growth.  Each  worm, 
(fig.  24,  a,)  then  measures  about  two  inches  in  length, 
and  is  velvety- black,  with  a  red  head,  red  legs,  and  with 
two  lateral  yellow  lines,  between  which  are  numerous, 
transverse  white,  irregular,  zebra-like  finer  lines,  which 


32  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

induced  Dr.  Melsheimer  to  call  this  worm  the  "  Zebra." 
Though  it  does  not  conceal  itself,  it  invariably  curls  up 
cut-worm  fashion,  and  rolls  to  the  ground  when  disturbed. 

It  changes  to  the  chrysalis  within  a  rude  cocoon  formed 
just  under  the  surface  of  the  ground,  by  interweaving  a 
few  grains  of  sand,  or  a  few  particles  of  whatever  soil  it 
happens  on,  with  silken  threads.  The  chrysalis  is  three- 
fourths  of  an  inch  in  length,  deep  shiny  brown,  and  thickly 
punctured  except  on  the  posterior  border  of  the  seg- 
ments, and  especially  of  those  three  immediately  below 
the  wing-sheaths,  where  it  is  reddish  and  not  polished  ; 
it  terminates  in  a  blunt  point  ornamented  with  two  thorns. 
The  moth  (fig.  24,  #,)  which  is  called  the  Painted 
Mamestra,  appears  during  the  latter  part  of  July,  and  it  is 
a  prettily  marked  species,  the  front  wings  of  a  beautiful 
and  rich  purple-brown,  blending  with  a  delicate  lighter 
shade  of  brown  in  the  middle;  ordinary  spots  in  the 
middle  of  the  wing,  with  a  third  oval  spot  more  or  less 
distinctly  marked  behind  the  round  one,  are  edged  and 
transversed  by  white  lines  so  as  to  appear  like  delicate 
net- work;  a  transverse  zigzag  white  line,  like  a  sprawling 
W,  is  also  more  or  less  visible  near  the  terminal  border, 
on  which  border  there  is  a  series  of  white  specks;  a  few 
white  atoms  are  also  sprinkled  in  other  places  on  the 
wing.  The  hind  wings  are  white,  faintly  edged  with 
brown  on  the  upper  and  outer  borders.  The  head  and 
thorax  are  of  the  same  color  as  the  front  wings,  and  the 
body  has  a  more  grayish  cast. 

There  are  two  broods  of  this  insect  each  year,  the  second 
brood  appearing  in  the  latitude  of  St.  Louis  from  the 
middle  of  August  along  into  October,  and  in  all  proba- 
bility passing  the  winter  in  the  chrysalis  state,  though  a 
few  may  issue  in  the  fall,  and  hibernate  as  moths,  or 
may  even  hibernate  as  worms;  for  Mr.  J.  H.  Parsons,  of 
N.  Y. ,  found  that  some  of  the  worms  which  were  on  his 
Buta  Baga  leaves,  stood  a  frost  hard  enough  to  freeze 


OF   THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN,  33 

potatoes  in  the  hill,  without  being  killed.  I  have  noticed 
that  the  spring  brood  confines  itself  more  especially  to 
young  cruciferous  plants,  such  as  cabbages,  and  also  on 
beets,  spinach,  etc. ,  but  have  found  the  fall  broods  collect 
in  hundreds  on  the  heads  and  flower-buds  of  asters,  on 
the  Snow-berry  or  White-berry  (Symphoricarpus  rave- 
mosus);  on  different  kinds  of  Honey-suckle,  Mignonette, 
and  on  Asparagus  ;  they  are  also  said  to  occur  on  the 
flowers  of  Clover,  and  are  quite  partial  to  the  common 
Lamb's-quarter,  or  Goosefoot  (Chenopodium  album). 
On  account  of  their  gregarious  habit  when  young,  they 
are  very  easily  destroyed  at  this  stage  of  their  growth. 

A   NEW   CABBAGE    WORM. 
(Pionea  rimosalis,  Guen). 

Prof.  Cyrus  Thomas,  Carbondale,  wrote  to  the 
"  American  Entomologist,"  in  substance,  as  follows:  "  I 
have  something  new.  It  is  a  new  Cabbage  worm,  the 
larva  of  Pionea  [Orobena]  rimosalis,  Guen.,  which 
appeared  late  the  past  season,  remaining  on  the  cabbages 
till  toward  the  end  of  November.  It  is  very  destructive, 
doing  as  much  injury  to  my  cabbages  after  it  appeared  as 
the  imported  Cabbage  worm  (Pieris  rapes)  which  has 
been  very  destructive  here  this  season.  The  larva,  when 
full  grown,  is  six  or  seven-tenths  of  an  inch  long  (a  16- 
legged  Pyralid  larva);  slender,  slightly  flattened;  head 
shining  greenish-yellow;  dorsal  portion  of  the  body  down 
to  the  breathing  pores  purplish-brown;  this  portion 
marked  with  numerous  transverse  whitish  lines,  two  or 
three  to  a  segment;  a  narrow,  pale  yellow  line  along  the 
region  of  the  stigmata;  underside  pale  green.  In  the 
breeding  cages  they  went  down  to  the  soil,  but  not  into 
it,  to  pupate;  forming  a  slight,  regularly  shaped,  oval 
cocoon,  thickly  covered  over  with  sand. 


34  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

"Miss  Middleton's  record  shows  as  follows;  "Went 
into  the  pupa  state  September  12th,  13th,  and  14th; 
moths  appeared  16th  to  22nd,  and  on  to  Oct.  1st. 

"After  this  there  was  another  brood  of  worms,  my 
description  having  been  taken  from  living  specimens, 
Nov.  21st.  The  eggs  I  have  not  seen,  but  from  the  fact 
that  the  young  feed  somewhat  together  (though  not 
really  in  companies)  I  presume  a  number  are  laid 
together.  These  worms  eat,  as  a  general  thing,  elongate 
oval  holes  in  the  leaves,  gradually  extending  them  until 
nothing  but  the  larger  veins  remain. 

"They  also  bore  directly  into  the  heads,  to  the  depth 
of,  or  rather  through  three  or  four  leaves;  a  habit,  so  far 
as  my  experience  goes,  wrongly  ascribed  to  the  larva  of 
P.  rapce,  which  will  seldom  eat  through  even  one  leaf  of 
a  solid  head  until  it  is  at  least  slightly  loosened. 

"  Lime,  ashes,  brine,  salt,  elder  decoction,  and  lye  as 
strong  as  the  cabbages  can  bear,  and  other  substances 
tried,  have  even  less  effect  upon  them  than  on  the 
imported  Cabbage  worm.  The  lye,  fresh  made,  of  strong 
ashes,  did  more  than  anything  else  tried. 

"  I  have  ascertained  that  some  varieties  of  the  cabbage 
suffer  much  less  from  P.  rapce  than  others,  and  that 
bringing  them  forward  two  or  three  weeks  earlier  than 
usual  so  as  to  have  the  heads  pretty  well  formed  before 
the  full  brood  appears,  is  also  an  excellent  plan  to  coun- 
teract them. " 

The  editor  adds:  This  is  the  first  instance  which  has 
come  to  our  knowledge,  of  Pionea  rimosalis  injuring 
cabbage.  It  is  interesting,  as  illustrating  the  unity  of 
habit  in  the  genus  which  essentially  feeds  on  Cruciform. 
The  larva  of  P.  forficalis,  L.,  is  very  destructive  to  cab- 
bages in  Europe,  working  very  much  as  Prof.  Thomas 
has  described  in  the  case  of  P.  rimosalis. 

EEMEDY  FOR  CABBAGE  WORMS. — Of  all  the  many  top- 
ical remedies  that  have  been  tried  for  the  Imported 


OF  THE   FARM  AHD   GARDEN.  35 

Cabbage  worm  since  it  first  began  to  spread  over  the 
country  and  to  play  havoc  with  our  cabbage  fields,  few, 
if  any,  have  given  entire  satisfaction.  It  is  safe  to  say 
that  the  most  satisfactory  remedy  so  far  discovered  is  in 
the  use  of  Pyrethrum.  Prof.  Eiley  was  the  first  to 
apply  this  in  1879,  but  did  not  care  to  recommend  it 
until  further  experiments  had  been  made.  He  has  made 
these  since,  and  caused  others  to  be  made  by  a  number  of 
his  agents  and  correspondents.  The  general  experience 
is  most  favorable,  and  he  unhesitatingly  recommends  it  for 
all  the  different  worms  affecting  the  leaves  of  our 
cabbage  plants.  Some  have  found  hot  water  very  ef- 
fective on  a  large  scale.  Living  plants  will  bear,  without 
injury,  for  a  few  seconds,  water  hot  enough  to  kill  soft- 
bodied  insects.  The  water  should  be  at  the  temperature 
of  about  160°  when  it  reaches  the  plant;  it  will  cool 
somewhat  during  the  application,  and  allowance  should 
be  made  for  this. 

THE   WAVY-STKIPED    FLEA-BEETLE. 

(Haltica  [Phyllotretd]  striolata,  Illiger.) 

"The  Striped  Turnip-beetle  (fig.  25,  #,)  is  less  than 
one-tenth  of  an  inch  in  length.  Its  general  appearance 
is  black,  with  a  broad  wavy  yellowish,  or  buff-colored 
stripe,  on  each  wing-cover.  The 
larva  (fig.  25,  #,)  is  white,  with  a 
faint  darkened  or  dusky  median 
line  on  the  anterior  half  of  the 
body,  being  probably  the  contents  ^  &  c 

of     the    alimentary    canal     seen     Fig.  25.— WAVY-STKIPED 
through  the  semi-translucent  skin.          (iMUca^s^ioiaia. ) 
The    head    is    horny    and    light    a,  Beetle ;  &,  Larva ;  c,pupa. 
brown.     On  the  posterior  extremity  is  a  brown  spot  equal 
to  the  head  in  size;  and  there  are  six  true  legs  and  one 


36  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

proleg.  In  its  form  and  general  appearance  it  somewhat 
resembles  the  larva  of  the  On  camber-beetle,  but  it  is 
much  smaller.  Its  motion  is  slow,  arching  up  the  ab- 
domen slightly,  on  paper  or  any  smooth  surface,  in  such 
a  position  that  its  motions  are  necessarily  awkward  and 
unnatural,  because  in  a  state  of  nature  it  never  crawls 
over  the  surface,  but  digs  and  burrows  among  the  roots  in 
the  ground.  Its  length  is  0.35  of  an  inch,  and  breadth 
0.06  of  an  inch.  It  feeds  upon  roots  beneath  the  ground. 

"  The  pupa  (fig.  25,  c,)  is  naked,  white,  and  transforms 
in  a  little  earthen  cocoon,  pressed  and  prepared  by  the 
larva,  in  the  ground  near  its  feeding  place.  This  period 
is  short. 

"  Every  gardener  knows  that  these  insects  are  very 
injurious  to  young  cabbages  and  turnips  as  soon  as  they 
appear  above  the  ground,  by  eating  off  the  seed-leaves;  he 
also  almost  universally  imagines  that  when  the  second,  or 
tree-plant  leaves  appear,  that  the  young  plant  is  safe  from 
their  depredations;  then  the  stem  is  so  hard  that  the 
insect  will  not  bite  it,  and  the  leaves  grow  out  so  rapidly 
as  not  usually  to  be  injured  by  them.  But  if  we  would 
gain  much  true  knowledge  of  what  is  going  on  around  us, 
even  among  these  most  simple  and  common  things,  we 
must  learn  to  observe  more  closely  than  most  men  do. 

"  The  gardener  sees  his  young  cabbage  plants  growing 
well  for  a  time,  but  at  length  they  become  pale  or 
sickly,  wither  and  die  in  some  dry  period  that  usually 
occurs  about  that  time,  and  attributes  their  death  to  the 
dry  weather;  but  if  he  will  take  the  pains  to  examine  the 
roots  of  the  plants,  he  will  find  them  eaten  away  by  some 
insect,  and  by  searching  closely  about  the  roots  will  find 
the  larva,  grub,  worm,  or  whatever  else  he  may  choose  to 
call  it;  from  this  he  can  breed  the  Striped  Turnip-beetle, 
as  I  have  often  done. 

"  I  have  observed  the  depredations  of  these  larvae  for 
ten  years,  and  most  of  that  time  had  a  convincing 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  37 

knowledge  of  their  origin,  but  only  proved  it  in  1865; 
since  that  time  I  have  made  yearly  verifications  of  this 
fact. 

"Every  year  the  cabbage  plants  and  turnips  in  this 
region  receive  great  damage  from  these  larvae,  and  often 
when  we  have  dry  weather,  in  the  latter  part  of  May  and 
early  in  Jane,  the  cabbage  plants  are  ruined.  A  large 
proportion  of  them  are  killed  outright  in  June,  and  the 
balance  rendered  scarcely  fit  for  planting;  but  when  the 
ground  is  wet  to  the  surface  all  the  time  by  frequent 
rains,  the  young  plant  is  able  to  defend  itself  much  more 
effectually,  by  throwing  out  roots  at  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  when  the  main  or  center  root  is  devoured  by  the 
larva;  but  in  dry  weather  these  surface  roots  find  no 
nourishment  and  the  plant  must  perish. 

"This  year  I  saw  these  beetles  most  numerous  in  early 
spring,  but  have  often  seen  them  in  August  and  Sep- 
tember, so  abundant  on  cabbages,  that  the  leaves  were 
eaten  full  of  holes,  and  all  speckled  from  their  presence, 
hundreds  often  being  on  a  leaf;  and  at  this  time  the 
entire  turnip  crop  is  sometimes  destroyed  by  them,  and 
seldom  a  year  passes  without  their  doing  great  injury. 
*  *  *  As  the  Cucumber-beetle  raises  its  young  on  the 
roots  of  the  Gourd  Family  exclusively,  I  am  led  to  believe 
that  the  Striped  Turnip-beetle  raises  its  young  always  on 
the  roots  of  the  Mustard  Family." — [Dr.  Henry  Shinier, 
in  "American  Naturalist,"  December,  1868.] 

THE  HARLEQUIN  CABBAGE-BUG. 

(Strachia  histrionica,  Hahn.) 

Cabbage-growers  in  the  North  are  apt  to  think,  that 
the  plant  which  they  cultivate  is  about  as  badly  infested 
by  insects  as  it  is  possible  for  any  crop  to  be,  without  be- 
ing utterly  exterminated.  No  sooner  are  the  young  cab- 


38  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

bages  above  ground  in  the  seed-bed,  than  they  are  often 
attacked  by  several  species  of  Flea-beetles.  By  these 
jumping  little  pests  the  seed-leaves  are  frequently  rid- 
dled so  full  of  holes  that  the  life  of  the  plant  is  destroyed; 
and  they  do  not  confine  themselves  to  the  seed-leaves, 
but  prey  to  a  considerable  extent  also  upon  the  young 
rough  leaves.  After  the  plants  are  set  out,  the  larva  of 
the  very  same  insect  is  found  upon  the  roots,  in  the  form 
of  a  tiny  elongate  six-legged  worm.  Through  the  oper- 
ations of  this  subterranean  foe,  the  young  cabbages,  es- 
pecially in  hot  dry  weather,  often  wither  away  and  die; 
and  even  if  they  escape  this  infliction,  there  is  a  whole 
host  of  cutworms  ready  to  destroy  them  with  a  few  snaps 
of  their  powerful  jaws;  and  the  common  White  Grub,  as 
we  know  by  experience,  will  often  do  the  very  same  thing. 
Suppose  the  unfortunate  vegetable  escapes  all  these 
dangers  of  the  earlier  period  of  its  existence.  At  a  more 
advanced  stage  in  its  life,  the  stem  is  burrowed  into  by 
the  maggot  of  the  Cabbage  Fly  (Anthomyia  brassicce) — 
the  sap  is  pumped  out  of  the  leaves  in  streams  by  myriads 
of  minute  Plant-lice  covered  with  a  whitish  dust  (Aphis 
brassicce) — and  the  leaves  themselves  are  riddled  full  of 
holes  by  the  tiny  larva  of  the  Cabbage  Tinea  (Plutella 
cruciferarum),  or  devoured  bodily  by  the  large  fleshy 
larvaa  of  several  different  Owlet-moths. 

Severe  as  are  these  inflictions  upon  the  Northern  cab- 
bage-grower, there  is  an  insect  found  in  the  Southern 
States  that  appears  to  be,  if  possible,  still  worse.  This 
is  the  Harlequin  Cabbage-bug  (Stracliia  histrionica, 
Hahn,  fig.  26,  d,  which  is  enlarged,  the  line  showing  the 
real  size),  so  called  from  the  gay  theatrical  Harle- 
quin-like manner  in  which  the  black  and  yellow  colors 
are  arranged  upon  its  body.  The  first  account  of  the  op- 
erations of  this  very  pretty  but  unfortunately  very  mis- 
chievous bug  appeared  in  the  year  1866  from  the  able 
pen  of  the  late  Dr.  Gideon  Lincecum,  of  Washington 


OF  THE   FARM   AtfD   GARDEN. 

county,  Texas,  and  were  printed  in  the  "  Practical  En- 
tomologist" (vol.  I,  p.  110).  His  remarks  are  to  the 
following  effect: 

"The  year  before  last  they  got  into  my  garden,  and 
utterly  destroyed  my  cabbage,  radishes,  mustard,  seed 
turnips,  and  every  other  cruciform  plant.  Last  year  I 
did  not  set  any  of  that  order  of  plants  in  my  garden. 
But  the  present  year,  thinking  they  had  probably  left  the 
premises,  I  planted  my  garden  with  radishes,  mustard, 
and  a  variety  of  cabbages.  By  the  first  of  April  the  mus- 
tard and  radishes  were  large  enough  for  use,  and  I  dis- 
covered that  the  insect  had  commenced  on  them.  I  be- 
gan picking  them  off 
by  hand  and  trampling 
them  under  foot.  By 
that  means  I  have  pre- 
served my  four  hundred 
and  thirty-four  cab- 
bages, but  I  have  visit- 
ed every  one  of  them 
daily  now  for  four 
months,  finding  on 
them  from  thirty-five 
to  sixty  fall-grown  in- 
sects every  day,  some 
coupled  and  some  in 
the  act  of  depositing 

their  eggs.  Although  many  have  been  hatched  in  my 
garden  the  present  season,  I  have  suffered  none  to  come 
to  maturity;  and  the  daily  supplies  of  grown  insects  that 
I  have  been  blessed  with,  are  immigrants  from  some 
other  garden. 

"The  perfect  insect  lives  through  the  winter,  and  is 
ready  to  deposit  its  eggs  (fig.  26,  c,)  as  early  as  the  fifteenth 
of  March,  and  sooner,  if  it  finds  any  cruciform  plant  large 
enough.  They  set  their  eggs  on  end  in  two  rows,  cemented 


Fig.  36. — HARLEQUIN  CABBAGE-BEETLE 

(Strachia  histrionicd). 
a,  Larva ;  ft,  Pupa ;  c,  Eggs ;  d,  Beetle. 


40  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

together,  mostly  on  the  under  side  of  the  leaf,  and  gener- 
ally from  eleven  to  twelve  in  number.  In  about  six  days 
in  April — four  days  in  July — there  hatches  out  from  these 
eggs  a  brood  of  larvae  (fig.  26,  a,}  resembling  the  perfect 
insect,  but  has  no  wings.  This  brood  immediately  be- 
gins the  work  of  destruction  by  piercing  and  sucking  the 
life-sap  from  the  leaves;  and  in  twelve  days  they  have 
matured.  They  are  timid,  and  will  run  off  and  hide  be- 
hind the  first  leaf-stem,  or  any  part  of  the  plant  that 
will  answer  the  purpose.  The  leaf  that  they  puncture 
immediately  wilts.  Half  a  dozen  grown  insects  will  kill 
a  cabbage  in  a  day.  They  continue  through  the  sum- 
mer, and  sufficient  perfect  insects  survive  the  winter  to 
insure  a  full  crop  of  them  for  the  coming  season. 

"  This  tribe  of  insects  do  not  seem  liable  to  the  attacks 
of  any  of  the  cannibal  races,  either  in  the  egg  state  or  any 
other  stage.  Our  birds  pay  no  attention  to  them,  neither 
will  the  domestic  fowls  touch  them.  I  have,  as  yet, 
found  no  way  to  get  clear  of  them,  but  to  pick  them  off 
by  hand." 

It  appears  from  this  statement  that  there  are  at  least 
two  broods  of  the  species  every  year,  the  first  hatching 
out  in  April  and  the  second  in  July;  and  as  it  is  said 
that  only  sixteen  or  eighteen  days  elapse  from  the  deposi- 
tion of  the  egg  to  the  mature  development  of  the  perfect 
bug,  it  is  not  improbable  that  the  species  is  in  reality 
many-brooded.  The  eggs,  of  which  we  have  specimens 
now  before  us,  are  about  0.03  inch  in  diameter,  barrel- 
shaped,  and  of  a  greenish-white  color  with  two  broad 
black  bands  encircling  the  staves  of  the  barrel  so  as  to 
look  exactly  like  hoops.  To  afford  a  passage  to  the  young 
larva,  one  of  the  heads  of  the  barrel — the  one,  of  course, 
that  is  not  glued  to  the  surface  of  the  leaf — is  detached 
by  the  beak  of  the  little  stranger  as  neatly  and  as 
smoothly  as  if  a  skillful  cooper  had  been  at  work  on  it 
with  his  hammer  and  driver.  And  yet,  instead  of 


OF   THE   FARM   AND    GAKDEN.  41 

employing  years  in  acquiring  the  necessary  skill,  the 
mechanic  that  performs  this  delicate  operation  with  un- 
erring precision,  is  actually  not  yet  born  into  this  sublu- 
nary world! 

Hitherto  it  had  been  generally  supposed  by  entomolo- 
gists that  the  Harlequin  Cabbage-bug  was  confined  to  the 
most  southerly  of  the  Southern  States,  such  as  Texas  and 
Louisiana;  and  it  has  consequently  been  called  by  some 
"the  Texan  Cabbage-bug,"  instead  of  translating  the 
scientific  name  and  calling  it,  as  we  have  done,  "the 
Harlequin  Cabbage-bug."  In  September,  1867,  however, 
we  received  numerous  living  specimens  from  Dr.  Sum- 
merer,  of  Salisbury,  in  North  Carolina;  and  from  his  ac- 
count it  seems  to  be  as  great  a  pest  in  the  gardens  of  that 
State  as  Dr.  Lincecum  describes  it  to  be  in  Texas. 
Hence  the  species  is  most  probably  to  be  met  with,  in 
particular  localities  and  in  particular  seasons,  throughout 
the  Southern  States,  at  least  as  far  north  as  Tennessee 
and  Arkansas;  and  we  should  not  be  surprised  if  a  few 
specimens  were  eventually  to  turn  up  in  Southern  Illi- 
nois, and  in  Southern  Missouri. 

It  is  said  that  no  criminal  among  the  human  race  is 
so  vile  and  depraved,  that  not  one  single  redeeming 
feature  can  be  discovered  in  his  character.  It  is  just  so 
with  this  insect.  Unlike  the  great  majority  of  the  ex- 
tensive group  (Scutellera  Family,  Order  of  Half -winged 
Bugs)  to  which  it  belongs,  it  has  no  unsavory  bed-buggy 
smell,  but  on  the  contrary  exhales  a  faint  odor  which  is 
rather  pleasant  than  otherwise.  We  have  already  re- 
ferred to  the  beauty  of  its  coloring.  As  offsets,  therefore, 
to  its  greediness  and  its  thievery,  we  have,  first,  the  fact 
of  its  being  agreeable  to  the  nose,  and  secondly  the  fact 
of  its  being  agreeable  to  the  eye.  Are  there  not  certain 
demons  in  the  garb  of  angels,  oocasionally  to  be  met  with 
among  the  human  species,  in  favor  of  whom  no  stronger 
arguments  than  the  above  can  possibly  be  urged? 


42  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

CUCUMBEK. 

THE   STRIPED    CUCUMBER-BEETLE. 
(Diabrotica  vittata,  Fabr.) 

The  Striped  Cucumber-Beetle  is  an  insect  which  annu- 
ally destroys  thousand  of  dollars'  worth  of  vines  in  the 
United  States,  and  for  which  remedies  innumerable — 
some  sensible,  but  the  greater  portion  not  worth  the 
paper  on  which  they  are  printed — are  published  every 
year  in  some  of  the  agricultural  papers. 

As  everything  pertaining  to  such  a  very  common  and 
destructive  insect  cannot  be  too  often  repeated,  I  will 
here  relate  its  habits  in  the  briefest  manner. 

The  parent  beetles  (fig.  27)  make  their  appearance  quite 
early  in  the  season,  when  they  immediately  commence 
their  work  of    destruction.     They  fre- 
quently penetrate   through  the   cracks 
that    are    made    by  the    swelling  and 
sprouting  of  the  seeds  of  melons,  cucum- 
Fig.  27.— STRIPED    bers,  or  squashes,  and  by  nipping  off  the 
CUCUMBER-BEETLE.   yoang  Sprouts5  destroy  the  plant  before 

it  is  even  out  of  the  ground. 

Their  subsequent  work,  when  the  vines  have  once 
pushed  forth  their  leaves,  is  too  well  known  to  need  des- 
cription. Yet  notwithstanding  the  great  numbers  and 
the  persistency  of  these  beetles,  we  finally  succeed,  with 
the  proper  perseverance  and  vigilance  in  nursing  and 
protecting  our  vines,  until  we  think  they  are  large  enough  - 
to  withstand  all  attacks.  Besides,  by  this  time,  the 
beetles  actually  begin  to  diminish  in  numbers,  and  we 
congratulate  ourselves  on  our  success.  But  lo!  All  of 
a  sudden,  many  of  our  vines  commence  to  wilt,  and  they 
finally  die  outright.  No  wound  or  injury  is  to  be  found 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


43 


I 


on  the  vine  above  ground,  and  we  are  led  to  examine  the 
roots.  Here  we  discover  the  true  cause  of  death,  for  the 
roots  are  found  to  be  pierced  here  and  there  with  small 
holes,  and  excoriated  to  such  an  extent  that  they  present 
a  corroded  appearance.  Upon  a  closer  examination  the 
authors  of  this  mischief  are  easily  detected,  either  im- 
bedded in  the  root,  or  lurking  in  some  of  the  corroded 
furrows.  They  are  little  whitish  worms,  rather  more 
than  a  third  of  an  inch  long,  and  as  thick  as  a  good-sized 
pin ;  the  head  is  blackish -brown  and  horny,  and  there  is 
a  plate  of  the  same  color  and 
consistency  on  the  last  seg- 
ment. These  worms  are  in 
fact  the  young  of  the  same 
Striped-Bug  which  had  been 
so  troublesome  on  the  leaves 
earlier  in  the  season;  and 
that  the  insect  may  be  as 
well  known  in  this  its  masked 
form,  as  it  is  in  the  beetle 
state,  I  present  the  annexed 
highly-magnified  figures  of 
the  worm  (fig.  28)  showing  a 
back,  and  fig.  29  a  side  view. 
The  beetles,  while  feasting 
themselves  on  the  tender 
leaves  of  the  vine,  were  also  pairing, 
were  hatched  from  the  eggs  deposited  near  the  roots  by 
the  females.  When  the  worms  have  become  full-grown, 
which  is  in  about  a  month  after  they  hatch,  they  forsake 
the  roots  and  retire  into  the  adjoining  earth,  where  each 
one,  by  continually  turning  around  and  around,  and  com- 
pacting the  earth  on  all  sides,  forms  for  itself  a  little 
cavity,  and  in  a  few  days  throws  off  its  larva  skin  and 
becomes  a  pupa.  This  pupa  is  much  shorter  than  was 
the  worm,  and  the  insect  lasts  in  this  state  about 


Fig.  28.  LARVA. 

BACK  VIEW. 


Fig.  29.  LARVA. 
SIDE  VIEW. 


and  these  worms 


44  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

two  weeks,  at  the  end  of  which  time  the  skin  is  again 
moulted,  and  the  perfect  beetle  form  assumed.  All 
the  parts  of  this  newly-developed  beetle  are  at  first  soft, 
but  after  remaining  motionless  in  its  cell  until  these  soft 
parts  have  acquired  solidity  and  strength,  it  breaks 
through  the  walls  of  its  prison  and  works  itself  up  to  the 
light  of  day.  There  are  from  two  to  three  generations 
each  year,  the  number  varying  according  to  the  latitude, 
or  the  length  of  the  winter. 

Of  all  the  multifarious  remedies  proposed  against  the 
attacks  of  this  insect,  there  is  none  so  effectual  or  so 
cheap  in  the  end,  as  inclosing  the  young  vines  in  boxes, 
which  are  opened  at  the  bottom,  and  covered  with  milli- 
net  on  the  top.  Such  boxes  are  made  at  a  trivial  cost, 
and  if  properly  stored  away  each  season  after  use,  will 
last  for  many  years.  Whenever  other  remedies  must 
from  necessity  be  resorted  to,  there  is  nothing  better  than 
sprinkling  the  vines,  early  in  the  morning,  with  Paris 
Green  and  Flour  (one  part  of  the  Green  to  four  or  five  of 
flour),  or  with  White  Hellebore.  It  of  course  follows, 
that  if  the  beetles  are  effectually  kept  off,  there  will 
afterwards  be  no  worms  at  the  roots. 

Much  complaint  has  been  made  in  various  parts  of  the 
country,  of  the  sudden  death  of  cucumber  and  other  cu- 
curbitaceous  vines,  from  some  unknown  cause,  and  Henry 
Ward  Beecher  seems  to  have  suffered  in  this  manner, 
like  the  rest  of  us,  but  could  find  no  worms  in  the  roots 
of  his  vines.  I  know  from  experience  that  such  vines 
are  subject  to  a  species  of  rot  in  the  root,  a  rot  not  caused 
by  insects,  and  for  that  reason  the  more  serious,  since  we 
cannot  tell  how  to  prevent  it.  I  have  seen  whole  melon 
patches  destroyed  by  this  rotting  of  the  roots,  but  in  the 
great  majority  of  instances  where  I  have  examined  vines 
that  had  died  from  "some  unknown  cause,"  I  have  had 
no  difficulty  in  either  finding  the  worms  of  the  "  Striped 
Bug"  yet  at  work  on  the  roots,  else  the  unmistakable 


OF  THE   FARM  AND   GARDEN.  45 

marks  of  their  having  been  there.  Indeed,  by  the  time 
a  vine  dies  from  the  effects  of  their  gnawings  and  bur- 
rowings,  the  worms  have  generally  become  fully  grown, 
and  have  hidden  themselves  in  their  little  pupal  cavities. 
So  much  for  the  two  borers  which  have  heretofore 
been  known  to  attack  plants  belonging  to  the  Gourd 
family.  We  have  seen  how  they  both  bore  into  the  roots 
of  these  plants,  and  how  one  of  them  in  the  perfect  state 
attacks  the  leaves.  No  other  borers  have  been  known  to 
attack  these  plants,  though  the  12-Spotted  Diabrotica 
(D.  I2-punctata,  fig.  30),  may  be  found 
embedded  in  the  rind  of  both  melons, 
cucumbers,  and  squashes.  But  we  now 
come  to  a  third  insect  which  attacks 
plants  of  this  same  Gourd  family.  It  Fig.  so.— IS-SPOT- 
neither  bores  into  the  root,  nor  devours  TED  DIABROTICA- 
the  foliage,  however,  but  seems  to  confine  itself  to  the 
fruit;  and  I  have  called  it  the  Pickle  Worm,  from  the 
fact  of  its  often  being  found  in  cucumbers  that  have 
been  pickled. 

THE  PICKLE  WORM. 

(Phacellura  nitidalis,   Cramer.) 

At  figure  31  is  represented  one  of  these  worms,  of 
the  natural  size.  They  vary  much  in  appearance,  some 
being  of  a  yellowish-white,  and  very  much  resembling 
the  inside  of  an  unripe  melon,  while  others  are  tinged 
more  or  less  with  green.  They  are  all  quite  soft  and 
translucent,  and  there  is  a  transverse  row  of  eight  shiny, 
slightly  elevated  spots  on  each  of  the  segments.  Along 
the  back  and  towards  the  head  these  spots  are  larger  than 
at  the  sides,  and  each  spot  gives  rise  to  a  fine  hair.  The 
specimen  from  which  I  obtained  my  first  moth  was  very 
light-colored,  and  these  spots  were  so  nearly  the  color  of 
the  body  as  to  be  scarcely  visible.  The  head  was  honey- 


46  INJURIOUS  IKSECTS 

yellow,  bordered  with  a  brown  line,  and  with  three  black 
confluent  spots  at  the  palpi. 

The  worms  commence  to  appear,  in  the  latitude  of  St. 
Louis,  about  the  middle  of  July,  and  they  continue  their 
destructive  work  till  the  end  of  September.  They  bore 
cylindrical  holes  into  the  fruit,  and  feed  on  its  fleshy 
parts.  They  are  gross  feeders,  and  produce  a  large 
amount  of  soft  excrement.  I  have  found  as  many  as  four 
in  a  medium-sized  cucumber,  and  a  single  worm  will 
often  cause  the  fruit  to  rot.  They  develop  very  rapidly, 
and  come  to  their  growth  in  from  three  to  four  weeks. 
When  about  to  transform,  they  forsake  the  fruit  in 


Fig.  31.— PICKLE  WORM  (FhaceUura  nitidalis).— Larva. 

which  they  had  burrowed,  and  drawing  together  portions 
of  some  leaf  that  lies  on  or  near  the  ground,  spin  a  light 
cocoon  of  white  silk.  Within  this  cocoon  they  soon  be- 
come slender  brown  chrysalids,  with  the  head  parts  pro- 
longed, and  with  a  very  long  ventral  sheath,  which  en- 
closes the  legs.  If  it  is  not  too  late  in  the  season,  the 
moths  issue  in  from  eight  to  ten  days  afterwards.  The 
late  individuals,  however,  pass  the  winter  within  their 
cocoons,  though,  from  the  fact  that  some  moths  come 
out  as  late  as  November,  I  infer  that  they  may  also  win- 
ter over  in  the  moth  state. 

The  moth  produced  by  this  worm  (of  which  figure  32 
represents  the  male)  is  very  strikingly  marked.  It  is 
of  a  yellowish-brown  color,  with  an  iris-purple  reflection, 
the  front  wings  having  an  irregular,  semi-transparent, 
dull,  golden-yellow  spot,  not  reaching  their  front  edge, 


OF  THE  FARM   AND   GARDEN.  47 

and  constricted  at  their  lower  edge,  and  the  hind  wings 
haying  their  inner  two-thirds  of  this  same  semi-transpar- 
ent yellow.  The  under  surfaces  have  a  more  decided 
pearly  lustre.  The  thighs,  the  breast,  and  the  abdomen 
below,  are  all  of  a  beautiful  silvery-white,  and  the  other 
joints  of  the  long  legs  are  of  the  same  tawny  or  golden- 
yellow  as  the  semi-transparent  parts  of  the  wings.  The 
abdomen  of  the  female  terminates  in  a  small,  flattened 
black  brush,  squarely  trimmed,  and  the  segment  directly 
preceding  this  brush  is  of  a 
rust-brown  color  above.  The 
corresponding  segment  in  the 
male  is,  on  the  contrary,  whit- 
ish anteriorly,  and  of  the  same 
color  as  the  rest  of  the  body 
posteriorly;  and  he  is,  more- 
over, at  once  distinguished  from  Fig.  33.— MOTH  OP  PICKLE 
the  female  by  the  immense  WOKM. 

brush  at  his  tail,  which  is  generally  much  larger  than  re- 
presented in  the  above  figure,  and  is  composed  of  narrow, 
lengthened  (ligulate)  scales,  which  remind  one  of  the 
petals  of  the  common  English  Daisy,  some  of  these  scales 
being  whitish,  some  orange,  and  others  brown.  This 
moth  was  described  nearly  a  century  ago  by  Cramer. 

The  genus  to  which  it  belongs  is  characterized  chiefly 
by  the  partly  transparent  wings,  and  by  the  immense 
scaly  brush  of  the  males.  The  antennae  are  long,  fine, 
and  thread-like,  those  of  the  male  being  very  finely 
ciliated;  the  abdomen  extends  beyond  the  wings,  and  the 
legs  are  very  long  and  slender.  The  species  are  for  the 
most  part  exotic,  and  the  larvae  of  all  of  them,  so  far  as 
known,  feed  on  cucurbitaceous  plants. 

But  our  Pickle-worm  is  an  indigenous  species,  and  has, 
doubtless,  existed  in  some  part  or  other  of  the  country, 
from  time  immemorial;  .and  now  that  its  habits  are 
recorded,  and  its  history  made  known,  I  should  not  be 


48  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

at  all  surprised  to  learn  that  individuals  hare  suffered 
from  it  in  years  gone  by.  The  French  Entomologist, 
Guenee,  gives  as  its  food-plant,  a  species  of  potato,  and 
it  is  just  possible  that  it  may  not  always  have  fed  upon 
the  same  plants  upon  which  it  was  first  found  in  this 
country.  At  all  events,  let  us  hope  that  it  will  disappear 
as  suddenly  as  it  appeared;  but  should  it  occur  again  in 
great  numbers,  the  foregoing  account  will  enable  those 
who  grow  melons,  cucumbers,  or  squashes,  to  understand 
their  enemy,  and  to  nip  the  evil  in  the  bud,  by  carefully 
overhauling  their  vines  in  the  summer,  and  destroying 
the  first  worms  that  appear,  either  by  feeding  the  infested 
fruit  to  hogs  or  cattle,  or  by  killing  the  worms  on  the 
spot. 

THE   MELON-WORM. 

(Phacellura  hyalinatalis,  Linn.) 

The  Melon-worm  is  described  by  Prof.  J.  H.  Comstock, 
in  the  Eeportof  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  for  1879, 
as  eating  cavities  into  melons,  cucumbers,  and  pumpkins 
at  all  stages  of  growth,  and  also  devouring  their  leaves. 
The  perfect  insect  (Phacellura  hyalinatalis,  also 
written  Phakellura),  has  long  been  well  known  to 
entomological  collectors  from  its  beauty  and  abun- 
dance in  certain  localities;  but  has  received  almost 
no  attention  from  economic  workers.  Guenee  in  giving 
its  geographical  distribution,  says:  ' ( Very  common  in  all 
America.  I  have  received  it  from  Brazil,  from  Columbia, 
from  Hayti,  from  North  America,  and  from  French 
Guiana." 

As  to  the  food  plant  of  the  larva  Guenee  simply  states 
that  it  lives  upon  the  pumpkins,  watermelons,  and  other 
cucurbitaceous  plants. 

In  the  July,  1875,  number  of  "Field  and  Forest "  a  short 


OF  THE  FARM   AND   GARDEN".     *  49 

account  is  given  of  the  destruction  of  a  large  crop  of 
cucumbers  at  Indian  River,  Florida,  by  these  worms.  It 
was  stated  that  they  first  attacked  the  bud,  then  worked 
into  the  plant,  and  eventually  killed  them  out,  root  and 
branch.  The  melon  crop  in  parts  of  Georgia  has  been 
very  seriously  injured  by  its  ravages;  to  what  extent  is 
vividly  shown  in  the  following  account  by  Prof.  J.  E. 
Willet,  of  Macon,  Ga.  [The  following  are  the  essential 


Fig.  33.-— MELON-WORM  (Phacellura  fiycdinatalis). 
Larva,  Chrysalis,  and  Moth,  closed  and  open. 

points  of  Prof.  Willett's  letter.  He  thus  describes  the 
appearance  in  three  patches,  in  which  melons  had  been 
planted  for  market. — ED.] 

e(  All  presented  the  same  scene  of  total  destruction. 
Most  of  the  vines  had  been  more  or  less  denuded  of  leaves, 
and  the  remains  of  the  leaves  contained  brown  chrysalids 
or  pupCB  "  webbed  up  "  in  them.  The  melons  of  various 
sizes  were  occupied  in  great  measure  by  the  worms. 
The  younger  worms  were  generally  confined  to  the  surface, 
but  the  older  had  penetrated  to  different  depths.  Some 
had  excavated  shallow  cavities  half  an  inch  to  an  inch  in 
diameter,  and  one-eighth  of  an  inch  in  depth;  and  each 
3 


50  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

cavity  was  occupied  by  one  or  more  worms.  Others  had 
penetrated  perpendicularly  into  the  melons,  frequently 
beyond  sight.  None  had  reached  the  hollow  of  the 
melon,  so  far  as  I  saw.  The  worms  averaged  probably 
half  a  dozen  to  each  melon.  The  melon  crops  of  these 
three  market-gardens  were  a  total  loss.  Another  gardener 
told  me  that  he  had  abandoned  the  culture  of  melons 
entirely,  because  of  the  ravages  of  the  Melon-worm. 
Where  cultivated  in  considerable  numbers,  the  August 
and  September  crop  of  melons  is  very  uncertain.  The 
destruction  is  frequently  quite  complete,  also,  in  private 
gardens. 

"  The  Melon-worms  are  of  alight  yellowish -green  color, 
nearly  translucent,  have  a  few  scattered  hairs,  and,  when 
mature,  are  about  an  inch  and  a  quarter  in  length. 
They  "web  up"  in  the  leaves  of  the  melon,  or  of  any 
plant  growing  near  which  has  flexible  leaves,  forming  a 
slender  brown  chrysalis  three-quarters  of  an  inch  in 
length.  Hundreds  of  these  pupae  were  found  rolled  up 
in  the  leaves  of  the  tomato  and  of  the  sweet-potato. 

"  In  passing  through  one  of  the  patches  referred  to, 
numbers  of  small,  beautiful  moths  rose  from  the  grass 
and  weeds.  Their  wings  when  extended  measured  an 
inch  across,  and  were  of  an  iridescent  pearly  whiteness, 
except  a  narrow  black  border.  Their  legs  and  bodies 
presented  the  same  glistening  whiteness,  and  the  abdo- 
mens terminated  in  a  curious  movable  tuft  of  white 
appendages  like  feathers,  of  a  pretty  buff  color,  tipped 
with  white  and  black.  These  moths  proved  to  be  the 
mature  melon-worms,  which  had  emerged  from  the 
chrysalids  referred  to. 

"  The  melon- worms,  their  chrysalids,  and  moths,  were 
forwarded  to  Prof.  J.  H.  Comstock,  Entomologist  of  the 
United  States  Agricultural  Department,  for  indentifica- 
tion.  He  pronounced  them  to  be  Pliacellura  hyalinatalis, 
another  species  of  the  same  genus  as  the  Western  pickle- 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN".  51 

worm,  Phacellura  nitidalis.  The  moth  of  the  latter  is 
somewhat  smaller,  and  the  ground  color  of  the  wings  is  a 
bronze  yellow  and  the  black  border  is  broader. 

( '  Much  later  in  the  season  a  few  worms  were  found  on 
cucumbers,  and  were  pronounced  by  Professor  Comstock 
to  be  melon-worms.  A  year  previous,  in  the  summer  of 
1878,  I  found  a  chrysalis  webbed  in  a  tomato  leaf,  and 
this  chrysalis  gave  forth  the  same  moth,  as  was  found  in 
1879  to  issue  from  the  melon-worm  chrysalis.  This  worm 
had  probably  fed  on  the  foliage  of  a  pumpkin  vine  which 
ran  near  the  tomato  plant. 

"  The  melon-worm,  Phacellura  hyalinatalis,  is  known 
then  to  destroy  musk-melons,  cucumbers,  and  pumpkins. 
Its  cousin,  the  pickle- worm,  Phacellura  nitidalis y  has 
been  found  here,  but  it  remains  to  be  determined  whether 
it  plays  any  part  in  the  destruction  of  melons  or  of 
cucumbers  in  this  locality, 

"  No  efficient  remedy  for  this  has  been  discovered  here. 
Some  have  tried  placing  each  melon  on  a  piece  of  plank, 
under  the  mistaken  notion  that  the  worms  emerged  from 
the  earth.  Paris  green  and  London  purple  are  objection- 
able, by  reason  of  their  poisonous  properties.  Professor 
Comstock  has  suggested  to  me  a  trial  of  the  Persian 
insect-powder,  Pyreth rum.  Whatever  remedy  is  employed 
it  must  be  applied  to  the  leaves  as  well  as  to  the  melons. 
The  worms  devour  both  forage  and  fruit,  and,  if  the 
fruit  alone  be  protected,  the  foliage  will  be  destroyed, 
the  plants  will  cease  to  grow,  and  the  melons  will  not 
come  to  maturity." 

The  number  of  broods  in  a  season  has  not  been  definitely 
ascertained.  The  insect  winters  in  the  chrysalis  state, 
spun  up  in  the  leaves  of  any  neighboring  tree  or  plant. 
They  usually  migrate  to  a  greater  or  less  distance  from 
their  feeding  place  before  webbing  up.  At  Rock  Ledge, 
Fla.,  they  were  found  abundantly  webbed  up  on  Palmetto 


52  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

and  Orange  trees  in  a  grove  in  which  the  so-called  Indian 
pumpkins  had  grown. 

As  regards  remedies,  Mr.  J.  S.  Newman,  of  Atlanta, 
Ga.,  states  that  the  only  one  known  to  him  is  to  plant 
early,  the  object  being  to  pick  the  melons  before  the  most 
destructive  brood  of  the  worms  has  appeared.  It  would 
undoubtedly  be  found  profitable  to  keep  a  sharp  lookout 
for  the  first  brood  of  the  worms,  which  will  probably  be 
found  feeding  upon  the  leaves  and  stems  before  the  young 
melons  have  begun  to  form.  These  should  be  killed  by 
hand.  This  could  be  readily  done  in  patches  compara- 
tively small  in  size,  and  we  think  will  be  found  profitable 
in  large  gardens. 

Two  species  of  parasitic  insects  have  been  reared  from 
the  specimens  sent  to  the  Department;  one  is  Pimpla 
conquisitor,  an  Ichneumon  fly,  which  has  proved  very 
efficacious  in  the  case  of  the  cotton-worm;  the  other  is  a 
Tachina  fly.  Much  is  to  be  expected  from  the  aid  of 
these  parasites. 


THE    ONION. 

THE    BLACK   ONION-FLY. 

(Ortalis  flexa,  Wied.) 

This  insect  was  first  described  by  "Wiedemann  in  1830. 
The  fly  (fig.  34)  is  about  one-third  of  an  inch  in  length, 
black,  with  three  oblique  white  stripes  on  each  wing.  Mr. 
Henry  Shimer,  of  Mount  Carroll,  HI.,  says,  "  In  the  latter 
part  of  June,  I  first  observed  the  larva  or  maggot  among 
the  onions  here.  The  top  dead,  the  bulb  rotten,  and  the 
maggots  in  the  decayed  substance.  From  them  I  bred  the 
fly.  They  passed  about  two  weeks  in  the  pupa  state.  At 


OF  THE   FABH   AND   GAKDEN.  53 

that  time  I  first  observed  the  flies  in  the  fearden,  and  now 
a  few  are  to  be  found.  Their  favorite  roosting  place  is  a 
row  of  asparagus  running  along  the  onion-ground,  where 
they  are  easily  captured  and  destroyed  from  daylight  to 
sunrise,  while  it  is  cool  and  wet.  During  the  day  they  are 
scattered  over  the  ground  and  on  the  leaves  and  stalks  of 
the  onions,  and  not  easily  captured.  Their  wings  point 
obliquely  backward,  outwards  and  upwards,  with  an 


jNIVERSITY! 


Fig.  34.— BLACK  ONION-FLY 

Larva  and  Fly— real  size  shown  by  lines. 

irregular  jerking,  fanlike  movement;  flight  not  very 
rapid  or  prolonged.  They  are  not  very  numerous,  prob- 
ably not  over  two  or  three  hundred.  All  that  I  observed 
originated  in  one  part  of  the  bed,  where  they  were  doubt- 
less deposited  by  one  parent  fly."  Two  broods  appear  in 
a  season. 

THE    IMPORTED    ONION-FLY. 
(Anthomyia  ceparum,  Bouch.6.) 

The  engravings  (fig.  -35,)  show,  a,  larva;  5,  larva  mag- 
nified; c,  pupa;  d,  pupa  magnified;  e,  fly  magnified.  It  is 
a  terrible  pest  to  the  onion  grower  in  the  East,  though 
it  has  not  yet  made  its  way  out  West.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  Native  American  Onion-fly  ( Ortalis  arcuata, 
Walker),  which  is  a  closely  allied  species  and  has  almost 
exactly  the  same  habits,  has  only  been  heard  of  in  one  or 


54  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

two  circumscribed  localities  in  the  West,  and  even  there 
does  comparatively  but  little  damage. 

The  Imported  Onion  Fly  lays  her  eggs  while  the  onions 
are  small  (in  May  and  June),  depositing  them  on  the 
leaves  near  the  surface  of  the  ground.  The  maggots  soon 
hatch  and  make  their  way  down  to  the  base  of  the  young 
bulb,  sometimes  as  many  as  two  or  three  in  a  single 
onion:  here  they  feed  for  about  a  fortnight,  when  they 
usually  leave  the  bulb  and  turn  into  chestnut-colored 
pupas  in  the  earth  near  by.  In  about  two  weeks  the 


Fig.  35.— IMPORTED  ONION-PLY  (Anthwnyia  ceparum). 

a,  Larva;  b,  do.  magnified ;  c,  Pupa;  d,  do.  magnified ;  e,  Fly,  enlarged,  real  aize 
shown  by  the  lines  below. 

second  brood  of  flies  issues  from  these  pupae,  to  lay  eggs 
and  continue  the  destructive  work.  The  eggs  of  the 
later  broods  are  not  usually  deposited  on  the  leaves,  but 
on  the  bulb  itself,  close  to  the  ground. 

REMEDIES. — The  onions  attacked  soon  turn  yellow, 
and  should  be  removed  from  the  bed  at  once;  this,  if 
thoroughly  done,  will  get  rid  of  the  maggots  that  would 
develop  into  the  next  brood  of  flies.  The  sickly  onions 
should  be  lifted  with  the  aid  of  an  old  knife,  to  be  sure 
and  bring  up  the  maggot  with  the  onion;  if  they  are 
simply  pulled,  the  maggot  may  escape  from  the  decayed 
bulb.  Place  these  infested  onions  in  a  pail  or  other 
vessel  from  which  the  maggots  can  not  escape,  and  burn 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  55 

them.  Among  special  applications,  soot  has  been  found 
useful,  and  in  England  kerosene  oil  mixed  with  water  in 
the  proportion  of  half  a  pint  to  six  gallons  has  been  ap- 
plied to  the  plants  from  a  watering-pot  with  a  fine  rose. 
Salt  applied  when  the  plants  are  three  or  four  inches 
high,  at  the  rate  of  three  bushels  to  the  acre,  has  been 
used  by  some  of  the  Connecticut  onion  growers  with 
benefit. 


PARSLEY  AND  BELATED  PLANTS. 

In  July,  in  the  New  England  and  Middle  States,  and 
earlier  further  South,  there  will  be  found  upon  Parsley 
especially,  and  sometimes  upon  other  cultivated  umbel- 
liferous plants,  as  the  Carrot,  Parsnip,  and  Celery,  and  also 
011  Caraway, Fennel, etc.,  a  showy  caterpillar,  known  as  the 
"  Parsley-worm."  This,  when  full  grown,  is  an  inch  and 
a  half  long,  largest  near  the  head  and  tapering  behind; 
at  this  time  the  caterpillars  are  of  a  delicate  apple-green 
color,  paler  at  the  sides,  and  on  each  segment,  or  ring  of 
the  body,  is  a  band  consisting  of  alternate  bright-yellow 
and  black  spots.  This  coloring  would  be  sufficient  to 
identify  the  caterpillar,  but  if  disturbed  it  at  once  arrests 
attention  by  appealing  to  the  sense  of  smell,  as  it  gives 
off,  what  has  been  called  a  "scent, "but  is  better  de- 
scribed as  a  stench,  which  pervades  the  air  for  some  dis- 
tance. This  odor  comes  from  a  pair  of  soft,  orange-col- 
ored horns,  which  are  united  below  like  a  letter  Y.  These 
are  projected  from  a  slit  just  back  of  the  head,  and  are 
not,  as  many  have  supposed,  stings,  but  merely  organs 
for  diffusing  this  odor.  They  attain  their  full  size  late 
in  September  or  early  in  October,  when  they  seek  some 
sheltered  place  on  a  fence  or  a  building;  hang  themselves 
by  a  loop  of  silken  threads  and  form  greenish,  yellowish, 


56  INJURIOUS  IKSECTS 

or  asli-gi*ay  chryalids.  They  pass  the  winter  in  the  chrys- 
alis state,  and  the  next  summer  appear  as  handsome 
e< swallow-tailed"  butterflies.  The  butterfly  has  a  spread 
of  wing  of  three-and-one-half  to  four  inches.  The  wings 
are  black,  with  a  row  of  yellow  spots  across  them,  and 
another  row  near  the  margin;  the  hind  wings  have  each 
a  tail-like  appendage,  seven  blue  spots  between  the  two 
rows  of  yellow  ones,  and  at  the  inner  angle,  an  orange- 
colored  spot  with  a  black  center.  The  female  lays  her 
eggs  singly. 

REMEDIES. — The  caterpillar  is  most  destructive  upon 
Parsley  and  the  related  plants  when  grown  for  seed. 
They  devour  not  only  the  foliage,  but  seem  to  be  espec- 
ially fond  of  the  flower-clusters,  and  of  the  young  fruit 
or  seeds.  As  with  all  other  large  and  scattered  cater- 
pillars, hand-picking  is  the  most  effective  remedy.  The 
butterfly  is  so  handsome  that  it  would  not  be  supposed  to 
be  capable  of  mischief,  but  seed  growers  should  encourage 
entomologists  to  make  specimens  of  all  they  find. 


THE    PEA. 
THE   PEA-WEEVIL. 
(Bruchus  pisi,   Linn.) 

Our  common  garden  Pea  has  not  many  insect  enemies, 
for  with  the  exception  of  the  Striped  Flea-beetle  (Haltica 
striolata],  which  gnaws  numerous  small  holes  in  the 
leaves,  and  the  Corn-worm,  alias  Boll-worm  (HeliotMs 
armigera),  which  eats  into  the  pod,  there  are  very  few 
others  besides  the  Pea- weevil  under  consideration.  This 
species  alone  is  so  numerous,  however,  as  to  be  a  serious 
drawback  to  pea  culture  in  some  parts  of  the  country. 

The  Pea-weevil,  which  is  here  illustrated  (fig.    36), 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  57 

showing  a  back  view,  and  (fig,  37),  a  side  view,  the 
small  outlines  at  the  sides  showing  the  natural  size,  is 
easily  distinguished  from  all  other  species  of  the  genus 
with  which  we  are  troubled,  by  its  larger  size,  and  by 
having  on  the  tip  of  the  abdomen,  projecting  from  the 
Aving-covers,  two  dark  oval  spots,  which  cause  the 
remaining  white  portion  to  look  something  like  the  letter 
T.  It  is  about  0. 18 — 0.20  inch  long,  and  its  general  color 
is  rusty-black,  with  more  or  less  white  on  the  wing- 
covers,  and  a  distinct  white  on  the  hinder  part  of  the 
thorax,  near  the  scutel.  There  is  a  notch  on  each  lateral 
edge  of  the  thorax,  and  a 
spine  on  the  underside  of 
the  hind  thighs  near  the 
apex.  The  four  basal 
joints  of  the  antennae,  and 
the  front  and  middle- 
shanks,  and  feet,  are  more 
or  less  tawny.  It  is  sup- 
posed to  be  an  indigenous 
North  American  insect,  Fi£-  W.-W-- 
and  was  first  noticed  a* Back  View ;  »• Pea  with  8pot' 
many  years  ago  around  Philadelphia,  from  whence  it  has 
spread  over  most  of  the  States  where  the  pea  is  cultivated. 
This  supposition  is  probably  the  correct  one,  though  we 
have  no  means  at  present  of  proving  it  to  be  so,  and  cer- 
tain it  is  that,  as  the  cultivated  pea  was  introduced  into 
this  country,  our  Pea-weevil  must  have  originally  fed  on 
some  other  indigenous  plant  of  the  Pulse  family. 

THE  FEMALE  DEPOSITS  HER  EGGS  ON  THE  OUTSIDE 
OF  THE  POD. — It  is  a  very  general  remark  that  peas  are 
"stung  by  the  bug,"  and  the  impression  prevails  almost 
universally,  not  only  among  gardeners,  but  with  many 
entomologists,  that  the  female  weevil  punctures  and 
deposits  her  eggs  in  the  pea,  in  which  the  larva  is  to  be 
nourished.  It  is  a  little  singular  that  so  many  writers 


58  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

should  have  fallen  into  this  error,  for  it  is  not  only  the 
accepted  view  with  some  writers  for  the  agricultural 
press,  but  has  been  adopted  by  many  eminent  entomolo- 
gists. All  this  comes  of  course  from  one  man's  palming 
off  the  opinions  of  another  as  his  own,  whether  good  or 
bad,  without  due  credit. 

The  true  natural  history  of  the  Pea-weevil  may  be 
thus  briefly  told.  The  beetles  begin  to  appear  as  soon  as 
our  peas  are  in  bloom,  and  when  the  young  pods  form, 
the  female  beetles  gather  upon  them,  and  deposit  their 
eggs  on  any  part  whatever  of  the  surface,  without 
attempting  to  insert  the  eggs  within  the  pod. 

The  eggs,  which  are  of  a  deep  yellow,  0.035-inch 
long,  are  three  times  as  long  as  wide,  pointed  in  front, 


Fig.  37. — PEA- WEEVIL. 
6,  Side  View ;  c.  Larva  •.  d,  Pupa. 

blunt  behind,  but  larger  anteriorly  than  posteriorly. 
They  are  fastened  to  the  pod  by  some  viscid  fluid,  which 
dries  white,  and  glistens  like  silk.  As  the  operation  of 
depositing  is  only  occasionally  noticed  during  cloudy 
weather,  we  may  safely  assume  that  it  takes  place  for  the 
most  part  by  night.  If  pea  vines  are  carefully  examined 
any  time  during  the  month  of  June,  the  pods  will  often 
be  found  to  have  from  one  to  fifteen  or  twenty  such  eggs 
upon  them,  and  the  black  head  of  the  future  larva  may 
frequently  be  noticed  through  the  delicate  shell. 

As  already  stated,  the  eggs  are  deposited  on  all  parts  of 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  59 

the  pod,  and  the  mother  beetle  displays  no  particular 
sagacity  in  the  number  which  she  consigns  to  each,  for  I 
have  often  counted  twice  as  many  eggs  as  there  were 
young  peas,  and  the  larvae  from  some  of  these  eggs,  would 
of  course  have  to  perish,  as  only  one  can  be  fully 
developed  in  each  pea.  The  newly  hatched  larva  is  of  a 
deep  yellow  color,  with  a  black  head,  and  it  makes  a 
direct  cut  through  the  pod  into  the  nearest  pea,  the  hole 
soon  filling  up  in  the  pod,  and  leaving  but  a  mere  speck, 
not  so  large  as  a  pin  hole,  in  the  pea.  The  larva  feeds 
and  grows  apace,  and  generally  avoids  the  germ  of  the 
future  sprout,  perhaps  because  it  is  distasteful,  so  that 
most  of  the  buggy  peas  will  germinate  as  readily  as 
those  that  have  been  untouched.  When  full  grown,  this 
larva  presents  the  appearance  of  figure  37,  c,  and  with 
wonderful  precognition  of  its  future  wants,  eats  a 
circular  hole  on  one  side  of  the  pea,  and  leaves  only  the 
thin  hull  as  a  covering.  It  then  retires,  and  lines  its 
cell  with  a  thin,  and  smooth  layer  of  paste,  pushing  aside 
and  entirely  excluding  all  excrement,  and  in  this  cell  it 
assumes  the  pupa  state,  (fig.  37,  d,)  and  eventually 
becomes  a  beetle,  which,  when  ready  to  issue,  has  only  to 
eat  its  way  through  the  thin  piece  of  the  hull,  which  the 
larva  had  left  covering  the  hole.  It  has  been  proved  that 
the  beetle  would  die  if  it  had  not  during  its  larval  life 
prepared  this  passage  way,  for  Earnest  Menault  asserts 
that  the  beetle  dies  when  the  hole  is  pasted  over  with  a 
piece  of  paper,  even  thinner  than  the  hull  itself. 

REMEDIES  AND  PREVENTIVES. — Sometimes,  and 
especially  when  the  summer  has  been  hot  and  prolonged, 
many  of  the  beetles  will  issue  from  the  peas  in  the  fall  of 
the  same  year  that  they  were  born,  but  as  a  more  general 
rule  they  remain  in  the  peas  during  winter,  and  do  not 
issue  till  new  vines  are  growing.  Thus  many  yet  remain 
in  the  seed  peas  until  they  are  planted,  and  especially  is 


60  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

this  apt  to  be  the  case  with  such  as  are  planted  early. 
We  see,  therefore,  how  easily  this  insect  may  be  intro- 
duced into  districts  previously  free  from  it,  by  the  care- 
less planting  of  buggy  peas,  for  it  has  been  demonstrated 
that  the  beetle  issues  as  readily  from  peas  planted  in  the 
earth,  as  it  does  from  those  stored  away  in  the  bin.  All 
peas  intended  for  seed  should  be  examined,  and  it  can 
very  soon  be  determined  whether  or  not  they  are  infested. 
The  thin  covering  over  the  hole  of  the  peas  that  contain 
weevils,  and  which  may  be  called  the  eye-spot,  is 
generally  somewhat  discolored,  and  by  this  eye-spot, 
those  peas  which  ought  not  to  be  planted,  can  soon  be 
distinguished.  Where  this  covering  is  off,  and  the  pea 
presents  the  appearance  of  fig.  36,  #,  there  is  little  danger, 
for  in  that  case  the  weevil  has  either  left,  or,  if  still 
within  the  pea,  is  usually  dead.  It  would  of  course  be 
tedious  to  carefully  examine  a  large  lot  of  peas,  one  by 
one,  in  order  to  separate  those  that  are  buggy,  and  the 
most  expeditious  way  of  separating  the  sound  from  the 
unsound,  is  to  throw  them  into  water,  when  the  sound 
ones  will  mostly  sink,  and  the  unsound  swim. 

There  are,  however,  other  and  more  certain  means  of 
preventing  the  injuries  of  this  insect,  and  whenever 
agriculture  shall  have  progressed  to  that  point,  where  by 
proper  and  thorough  organization,  all  the  farmers  of  a 
county  or  of  a  district  can,  by  vote,  mutually  agree  to 
carry  out  a  measure  with  determination,  and  unison,  then 
this  insect  can  soon  be  exterminated;  for  it  is  easy  to 
perceive  that  such  a  result  would  be  accomplished  by 
combinedly  ceasing  to  cultivate  any  peas  at  all,  for  one 
single  year!  Until  some  such  united  action  can  be 
brought  about,  we  shall  never  become  entirely  exempt 
from  this  insect's  depredations,  for  no  matter  how  sound 
the  peas  may  be  that  I  plant,  my  vines  are  sure  to  be 
more  or  less  visited  by  the  beetles,  as  long  as  I  have 
slovenly  neighbors.  Yet,  comparatively,  my  peas  will 


OF   THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  61 

always  be  enough  better  to  pay  well  for  the  trouble,  even 
under  these  circumstances. 


EADISH. 

The  same  insects  that  attack  young  cabbage  plants  and 
the  turnips  infest  the  Radish.  In  some  localities  it  is 
almost  impossible  to  grow  radishes  of  a  size  fit  for  the 
table  before  they  are  so  much  injured  by  a  small  maggot 
as  to  be  useless.  These  maggots  appear  to  be  the  larvae 
of  a  fly  (Anthomyia),  closely  related  to  those  so  destruc- 
tive to  the  onion.  (See  Onion  Flies).  The  False  Chinch 
Bug  (Nysius  devastator),  troublesome  in  some  of  the 
Western  States,  attacks  the  leaves  of  the  Radish  as  well  as 
those  of  other  plants  of  the  same  family. 


SQUASH    AND    PUMPKIN. 

The  Squash  and  Pumpkin  belong  to  the  same  family 
of  plants  (the  Gourd  Family,  Cucurbitacece)  with  the 
Cucumber  and  Melon,  and  most  of  the  insects  that  infest 
those  may  often  be  found  upon  them,  especially  while 
the  plants  are  young,  at  which  time  they  need  the  pro- 
tection from  the  Striped-beetle,  etc.,  mentioned  under 
Cucumber  and  Melon. 

THE    SQUASH-BUG. 
(Anasa  [formerly  Coreus]  tristis,  Degeer.) 

For  this  insect  the  name,  Squash  Bug,  is  scientifically 
correct,  as  it  belongs  to  the  true  bugs,  with  the  Chinch, 
Bed,  and  other  unpleasant  bugs.  (See  Hemiptera,  in 


62  INJUEIOUS  INSECTS 

Introduction. )     About  the  last  of  June  (in  the  North- 
ern States),  these  insects  come  out  from  their  hiding 
places,  pair,  and  lay  their  eggs.     The  parent  insect  (fig. 
38,)  is  a  little  over  half  an  inch  (6/10)  in  length,  rusty- 
black  above,  and  ochre-yellowish  beneath.     The  ground 
color  of  the  upper  parts  is  ochre-yellow,  but  concealed 
by  multitudes  of  minute  black  dots.     A  marked  charac- 
ter of  this  insect  is  the  odor  it  gives  off  when  handled  or 
disturbed;  this  odor  has  been  compared  to  "  that  of  an 
over-ripe  pear,"  but  we  have  never  seen  a  pear  sufficient- 
ly "  over-ripe"  to  approach  in  its  repulsiveness  the  sick- 
v       /       ening  odor  given  off  by  the  Squash-bug.     It 
\V/        is  one  of  those  odors  of  which  a  very  little 
JBl          satisfies.     The  insects  are  quiet  during  the 
^/THTV    day,  but  at  night  lay  their  eggs  in  little 
f  ^H  ]      patches;  they  are  of  a  brownish-yellow  color, 
J    ^^   f      and  glued  to  the  leaves.     They  soon  hatch, 
T    and  the  larvae,  or  young  bugs,  are  of  a  pale- 
SQUASH-BUG.    ash  color,  and  of  a  more  rounded  shape 
(Anasattistis.)  t^an  tne  perfect  insects.      As  they  grow 
older  they  moult  their  skins  several  times,  forming  no 
dormant  pupae,  but  finally  assume  the  shape  of  the  per- 
fect bug.     The  young  at  first  remain  in  small  swarms  or 
clusters,  near  the  place  they  were  hatched,  but  finally 
scatter  to  other  leaves;  in  all  stages  they  penetrate  the 
leaves  with  their  beaks,  live  upon  their  juices,  and  cause 
them  to  become  brown,  wither,  and  finally  to  die.     As 
soon  as  a  leaf  is  exhausted,  they  pass  on  to  fresher  ones, 
and  where  numerous,  the  insects  are  very  destructive. 

REMEDIES. — None  of  our  injurious  insects  is  more 
readily  kept  under  control  than  this  by  hand-picking.  If 
one  familiar  with  the  appearance  of  the  bug,  will  exam- 
ine the  young  vines  and  the  ground  beneath  them,  those 
that  come  from  their  winter  quarters  may  be  found  and 
destroyed  before  they  have  laid  their  eggs.  Next  the 
eggs,  which  are  conspicuous  upon  the  underside  of  the 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  63 

leaves,  on  account  of  their  color  and  large  size,  may  be 
crushed  between  the  thumb  and  finger.  If  any  of  the 
patches  of  eggs  have  been  allowed  to  hatch,  the  habit  of 
the  young  bugs  to  stay  around  in  clusters,  allows  these  to 
be  readily  destroyed.  If  any  have  escaped  destruction  in 
these  early  stages,  an  examination  of  the  vines,  after  the 
insects  have  scattered,  will  allow  of  their  being  gathered 
and  destroyed  before  they  can  go  into  winter  quarters. 

THE    12-SPOTTED    SQUASH-BEETLE. 
(Diabrotica  12-punctata,  Fabr.) 

This  beetle  is  own  brother  to  the  Striped-Beetle  (D. 
vittata),  already  described  under  Cucumbers.  While  the 
colors  are  much  the  same,  this  (see  fig.  30,  p.  45)  is  much 
broader,  and  instead  of  having  its  black  marks  in  lines, 
they  are  in  dots,  12  in  all,  upon  the  wing  covers.  It  is, 
fortunately,  not  very  common,  but  where  it  occurs,  it  is 
most  destructive.  It  seems  to  take  special  delight  in 
eating  through  the  strong  ribs  of  the  leaves,  near  where 
they  are  attached  to  the  leaf-stalk,  thus  allowing  the  rest 
of  the  leaf  to  fall  down  and  wither.  Hand-picking  has 
hitherto  been  relied  upon,  but  if  in  great  numbers,  Paris 
Green  may  be  used. 

THE   SQUASH-BORER. 
(JEg&ria  \Trochilium\  cucurbitce.) 

At  midsummer,  or  soon  after,  in  the  Eastern  States, 
especially,  large  and  vigorous  Squash-vines  are  seen  to 
suddenly  wilt  and  die  without  apparent  cause.  Upon  a 
careful  examination  of  the  vine  near  the  root,  by  split- 
ting it  lengthwise,  there  will  generally  be  found  a  cater- 
pillar, and  if  the  exterior  of  the  vine  be  carefully  exam- 
ined, probably  the  wound  caused  by  the  entrance  of  the 


64  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

young  borer  may  be  discovered.  This  Squash-vine  Borer 
is  the  larval  state  of  an  insect  of  the  same  genus  as  the 
borer  of  the  Peach  Tree.  The  perfect  insect  (fig.  39,) 
has  an  orange-colored  body;  its  fore -wings  are  black,  and 
the  hind  ones  transparent,  and  the  hind  pair  of  legs  are 
fringed  with  long  orange  and  black  hairs.  The  female 
deposits  her  eggs  upon  the  vine  near  the  root,  at  any 

time    from    June  to  August. 
The  young  larva  at  once  pene- 
trates to  the  interior  of   the 
stem,  and  eats  and  grows,  until 
the  connection  between  the  up- 
per part   and  the  root   being 
destroyed,  the  vine  dies.     The 
Fig's9.— MOTH  OF  SQUASH-     f  ull-grown    larva     enters    the 
VINE  SOBER.  earth,  forms  a  rude  cocoon  by 

gluing  particles  of  earth  together,  and  remains  in  the 
pupa  state  until  time  to  begin  its  work  of  mischief  the 
next  season. 

KEMEDIES. — The  difficulty  with  the  Squash- vine  Borer 
consists  in  the  fact  that  its  presence  is  not  made  known 
by  the  wilting  of  the  vines  until  the  mischief  has  been 
done.  Among  other  methods  that  have  been  suggested, 
is  the  placing  sheets  of  the  sticky  fly-paper  ("Catch'em 
Alive,  Oh!")  about  the  vines,  to  capture  the  parent  in- 
sect. If  these  are  seen  flitting  around  the  vines,  they 
should  be  caught  by  means  of  a  net.  If  the  moths  have 
been  seen  around  the  vines,  these  should  be  closely  ex- 
amined for  eggs  and  for  the  wounds  made  by  the  young 
larvae  in  entering  the  stem;  if  found,  while  still  young, 
they  may  be  carefully  cut  out,  without  material  injury 
to  the  vine.  If  the  vine  dies  from  the  presence  of  bor- 
ers, search  should  be  made  for  the  larva,  that  it  may  be 
destroyed,  and  prevent  an  increase.  Among  preventives 
it  has  been  suggested  that,  as  the  insect  deposits  her  egg 
upon  the  stem  near  the  root  of  the  vine,  the  covering 


OF   THE   FAKM   AND   GARDEN.  65 

slightly  with  earth  of  several  lower  joints  of  the  plants 
will  be  effective.  A  similar  treatment  has  been  found 
useful  with  the  related  Peach-tree  Borer,  and  is  worth 
bearing  in  mind  if  the  Squash  Borer  is  apprehended. 


THE    TOMATO. 

The  Tomato,  belonging  to  the  same  botanical  family 
as  the  Potato,  is  attacked  by  several  of  the  insects  that 
feed  upon  that  plant,  and  it  is  not  necessary  to  give  a 
separate  description  of  them.  When  the  plants  are  first 
set  out  in  the  spring,  they  are  sometimes  cut  off  by  the 
greasy  Cut- worm,  the  larva  of  Agrotis  telifera,  Harris. 
This  cut-worm  is  a  general  feeder,  and  destroys  whatever 
plants  it  may  come  across.  The  holes  of  the  worms 
should  be  searched  for,  and  the  tenants  destroyed. 
Wrapping  a  piece  of  paper  around  the  lower  part  of  the 
stem  of  each  plant,  allowing  the  lower  edge  to  be  below 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  while  the  other  edge  extends  an 
inch  or  two  above  it,  will  prevent  their  attacks. 

The  Stalk  Borer  of  the  Potato,  and  the  Colorado 
Beetle,  occasionally  attack  the  Tomato.  These  are 
described  under  Potato.  The  most  injurious  insect  to 
the  Tomato,  is  the  large  green  Caterpillar,  of  /Sphinx 
quinque  maculata,  which  is  called  both  "  Tomato,"  and 
"Potato  Worm,"  (See  POTATO).  This  voracious  feeder 
will  soon  strip  a  plant  of  its  foliage,  and  even  eat  the 
young  fruit.  Where  tomatoes  are  trained  to  a  trellis,  as 
they  always  should  be  in  garden  culture,  the  abundant 
droppings  upon  the  ground  will  indicate  its  presence, 
and  it  should  be  sought  for  at  once.  Being  so  nearly  of 
the  same  color  as  the  stems  of  the  plant,  it  might  escape 


66  INJURIOUS  INSECTS. 

notice,  did  not  its  droppings  betray  it.     Hand  picking — 
and  it  is  perfectly  harmless — is  the  remedy. 

The  Caterpillar  of  the  Corn,  or  Boll- worm  (Heliothis 
armigera),  besides  doing  vast  injury  to  Indian  Corn,  and 
to  Cotton,  feeds  on  many  other  plants.  In  some  of  the 


Fig'.  40. — BOLL-WOBM  {Heliothis  armigera)  FEEDING  UPON  TOMATO. 

Western  States,  it  has  proved  a  great  pest  to  the  Tomato 
grower,  eating  into  the  green  fruit,  and  causing  it  to  rot. 
Figure  40  shows  this  Caterpillar  attacking  the  Tomato. 
This  insect  is  described  under  Indian  Corn. 


Insects  Injurious  to  Root  Crops  and  Indian  Corn, 


BEET   AND   MANGEL   WURZEL. 

While  there  are  several  insects  injurious  to  the  Beet, 
especially  the  Sugar  Beet  in  Europe,  this  crop  has  been 
thus  far  singularly  free  from  insect  enemies  in  this 
country.  Even  the  all-devouring  Western  Grass-hopper 
often  leaves  the  Beets  untouched;  while  the  White  Grub 
(Lachnosterna),  makes  no  such  exception,  and  is  some- 
times very  troublesome.  (SEE  WHITE  GBUB).  In  Eng- 
land, the  larva  of  the  Beet  Carrion  Beetle  (Silpha  opaca, 
Linn. ),  has  occasionally  destroyed  crops  by  feeding  on 
the  leaves,  but  little  seems  to  be  known  about  it.  A  fly 
(Antliomyia  betce,  Curtis),  is  often  destructive  to  the 
Beet  and  Mangel  in  Europe,  and  a  few  cases  have  been 
reported  of  its  appearance  in  this  country  in  1881.  This 
insect  is  a  near  relative  of  the  Onion  Fly  (See  ONION), 
its  larvae  burrowing  in  numbers  in  the  pulpy  matter  of 
the  leaf.  When  a  leaf  wilts,  the  larvae,  about  a  third  of 
an  inch  long,  may  be  seen,  if  present,  by  holding  the 
leaf  up  to  the  light.  The  only  remedy  thus  far  suggested 
is,  to  remove  all  leaves  that  show  signs  of  flagging,  and 
destroy  them  before  the  maggots  can  transform  to  flies. 


INDIAN    CORN. 

While  there  are  a  few  insects  that  especially  attack  this 
important  crop,  it  also  receives  attention  from  the  gener- 
ally destructive  insects.  In  those  localities  where  the 

67 


68 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


Army  Worm  is  abundant,  or  in  those  that  are  in  the  range 
of  the  destructive  Western  Grass-hopper,  corn,  of  course, 
suffers  in  common  with  other  plants.  It  also  is  attacked 
by  the  White  Grub,  and  by  several  of  the  Cut  Worms. 

THE  CORN-WORM,  alias  BOLL-WORM. 
(Heliotliis  armigera,  Hubner.) 

The  "  Boll-worm "  has  become  a  by- word  in  all  the 
Southern  cotton-growing  States,  and  the  "Corn-worm" 
is  a  like  familiar  term  in  those  States,  as  well  as  in  many 


Fig.  41. — CORN  OK  BOLL,  WORM. 
a,  Larva;  b.  Moth,  Wings  open ;  c,  Moth,  Wings  closed. 

other  parts  of  the  Union;  but  few  persons  suspect  that 
these  two  worms — the  one  feeding  on  the  corn,  the  other 
on  the  cotton-boll — are  identically  the  same  insect,  pro- 
ducing exactly  the  same  species  of  moth.  But  such  is 
the  fact,  as  I  myself  experimentally  proved  in  1864.  It 
attacks  corn  in  the  ear,  at  first  feeding  on  the  "silk," 
but  afterwards  devouring  the  kernels  at  the  terminal  end; 
being  securely  sheltered  the  while  within  the  husk.  I 
have  seen  whole  fields  of  corn  nearly  ruined  in  this  way, 
in  the  State  of  Kentucky,  but  nowhere  have  I  known  it 


'      \ 
OF  THE   FARM   AtfD   GARD^  x  '  "CJ  T£&<  T  T  "^ 

to  be  so  destructive  as  in  Southern  Illinois.  Here,  as  in,;, 
our  own  State,  there  are  two  broods  of  the  worms  during 
the  year,  and  very  early  and  very  late  corn  fare  the  worst; 
moderately  late  and  moderately  early  varieties  usually  es- 
caping. I  was  formerly  of  the  opinion  that  this  worm 
could  not  live  on  hard  corn,  and  it  certainly  does  disap- 
pear before  the  corn  fully  ripens,  but  last  fall  Mr.  James 
Harkness,  of  St.  Louis,  brought  me,  as  late  as  the  latter 
part  of  October,  from  a  corn  field  on  the  Illinois  bottom, 
a  number  of  large  and  well  ripened  ears,  each  containing 
from  one  to  five  worms  of  different  sizes,  subsisting  and 
flourishing  on  the  hard  kernels.  This  is,  however,  an 
exceptional  occurrence,  brought  about,  no  doubt,  by  the 
long  protracted  warm  weather  which  we  had,  and  the 
worms  were  in  all  probability  a  third  brood. 

This  glutton  is  not  even  satisfied  with  ravaging  these 
two  great  staples  of  the  country — cotton  and  corn — but, 
as  I  discovered,  in  1867,  it  attacks  the  tomato  in  South- 
ern Illinois,  eating  into  the  green  fruit,  and  thereby 
causing  such  fruit  to  rot.  (See  TOMATO,  p.  66).  Mr. 
Glover  also  found  it  feeding  in  a  young  pumpkin,  and  it 
has  been  ascertained  by  Mrs.  Mary  Treat,  of  Vineland, 
New  Jersey,  not  only  to  feed  upon  the  undeveloped  tas- 
sels of  corn  and  upon  green  peas,  but  to  bore  into  the 
stems  of  the  garden  flower  known  as  Gladiolus,  and  in 
confinement  to  eat  ripe  tomatoes,  last  summer  it  was  also 
found  by  Miss  M.  E.  Murtfeldt  on  common  string  beans, 
around  Kirkwood. 

But  for  the  present  we  will  consider  this  insect  only  in 
the  role  of  Corn-worm,  because  as  such  it  interests  the 
practical  man  most  deeply. 

This  insect  is  very  variable  in  the  larva  state,  the 
young  worms  varying  in  color  from  pale-green  to  dark- 
brown.  When  full  grown  there  is  more  uniformity  in 
this  respect,  though  the  difference  is  often  sufficiently 
great  to  cause  them  to  look  like  distinct  insects.  Yet  the 


70  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

same  pattern  is  observable,  no  matter  what  may  be  the 
general  color;  the  body  being  marked  as  in  figure  41, 
with  longitudinal  light  and  dark  lines,  and  covered 
with  black  spots  which  give  rise  to  soft  hairs.  Those 
worms  that  Mrs.  Treat  found  on  green  peas  and  upon 
corn  tassels,  had  these  lines  and  dots  so  obscurely  repre- 
sented that  they  seemed  to  be  of  a  uniform  green  or 
brown  color,  and  the  specimens  which  I  saw  last  summer 
on  string  beans  were  also  of  a  dark  glass-green  color,  with 
the  spots  inconspicuous,  but  with  the  stripe  below  the 
breathing  pores  quite  conspicuous  and  yellow.  The  head, 
however,  remains  quite  constant  and  characteristic.  Fig- 
ure 40  may  be  taken  as  a  specimen  of  the  light  variety, 
and  figure  41 ,  «,  as  illustrating  the  dark  variety.  When 
full  grown,  the  worm  descends  into  the  ground,  and  there 
forms  an  oval  cocoon  of  earth  interwoven  with  silk, 
wherein  it  changes  to  a  bright  chestnut-brown  chrysalis, 
provided  with  four  thorns  at  the  extremity  of  the  body, 
the  two  middle  ones  being  stouter  than  the  others.  After 
remaining  in  the  chrysalis  state  from  three  or  four  weeks, 
the  moth  makes  its  escape.  In  this  last  and  perfect 
stage,  the  insect  is  also  quite  variable  in  depth  of  shading, 
but  the  more  common  color  of  the  front  wings  is  pale 
clay-yellow,  with  a  faint  greenish  tint,  and  they  are 
marked  and  variegated  with  pale-olive  and  rufous,  as  in 
figure  41  (b  showing  the  wings  expanded,  and  c  represent- 
ing them  closed),  a  dark  spot  near  the  middle  of  each 
wing  being  very  conspicuous.  The  hind  wings  are  paler 
than  the  front  wings,  and  invariably  have  along  the  outer 
margin  a  dark  brown  band,  interrupted  about  the  mid- 
dle by  a  large  pale  spot. 

In  1860 — the  year  of  the  great  drouth  in  Kansas — the 
corn  crop  in  that  State  was  almost  entirely  ruined  by  the 
Corn-worm.  According  to  the  "Prairie  Farmer,"  of 
January  31,  1861,  one  county  there  which  raised  436,000 
bushels  of  corn  in  1859,  only  produced  5,000  bushels 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  71 

of  poor  wormy  stuff  in  1860,  and  this,  we  are  told,  was 
a  fair  sample  of  most  of  the  counties  in  Kansas.  The 
damage  done  was  not  by  any  means  confined  to  the  grain 
actually  eaten  by  the  worm;  but  "the  ends  of  the  ears  of 
corn,  when  partially  devoured  and  left  by  this  worm,  af- 
fords a  secure  retreat  for  hundreds  of  small  insects, 
which,  under  cover  of  the  husk,  finish  the  work  of  des- 
truction commenced  by  the  worm,  eating  holes  in  the 
grain  or  loosening  them  from  the  cob.  A  species  of  green- 
ish-brown mould  or  fungus  grew  likewise  in  such  situa- 
tions, it  appearing  that  the  dampness  from  the  exuded 
sap  favored  such  a  growth.  Thus  decay  and  destruction 
rapidly  progressed,  hidden  by  the  husk  from  the  eye  of 
the  unsuspecting  farmer."  It  appears  also  that  many 
horses  in  Kansas  subsequently  died  from  disease  occa- 
sioned by  eating  this  half-rotten  wormy  corn. 

EEMEDY. — It  is  the  general  experience  that  this  worm 
does  more  injury  to  very  early  and  very  late  corn  than  to 
that  which  ripens  intermediately,  for  though  the  broods 
connect  by  late  individuals  of  the  first  and  early  individ- 
uals of  the  second,  there  is  nevertheless  a  period  about 
the  time  the  bulk  of  our  corn  is  ripening,  when  the 
worms  are  quite  scarce.  I  have  never  yet  observed  their 
work  on  the  green  tassel,  as  it  has  been  observed  in 
New  Jersey,  and  do  not  believe  that  they  do  so  work  with 
us.  Consequently  it  would  avail  nothing  as  a  preventive 
measure,  to  break  off  and  destroy  the  tassel,  and  the 
only  remedy  when  they  infest  corn  is  to  kill  them  by 
hand.  By  going  over  a  field  when  the  ears  are  in  silk, 
the  presence  of  the  worms  can  be  detected  by  the  silk  be- 
ing prematurely  dry,  or  by  its  being  partially  eaten. 

In  the  cotton  fields  large  numbers  of  the  moths  have 
been  caught  by  means  of  lamps  or  lanterns,  so  arranged 
that  the  insect,  when  attracted  by  the  light,  will  fall  into 
the  water  or  other  liquid.  Wherever  the  moth  is  abun- 
dant among  the  corn,  it  may  be  worth  while  to  try  this. 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


Fig.  43.— SEED-CORN  MAGGOT. 
a,  Larva ;  fo,  Pupa. 


THE  SEED-CORN  MAGGOT. 
(Anthomyia  zeas,  Riley). 

This  maggot  is  shown,  enlarged,  at  figure  42,  a,  the 
line  directly  underneath  giving  the  natural  size.  It 
greatly  resembles  the  Onion  mag- 
gots, which  are  known  to  attack 
the  onion  in  this  country,  and  its 
work  on  corn  is  similar  to  that  of 
this  last  named  maggot  on  the 
onion;  for  it  excoriates  and  gnaws 
into  the  seed-corn  as  shown  in 
figure  43,  and  finally  causes  such  seed  to  rot. 

After  having  become  full  fed,  these  maggots  usually 
leave  the  kernels  for  the  surrounding  earth,  where  they 
contract  into  smooth,  hard,  light-brown  pupae,  of  the 
size  and  form  of  fig.  42,  #,  and  in  about  a  week  afterwards 
the  perfect  fly  pushes  open  a  little  cap  at  the  anterior 
end,  and  issues  forth  to  the  light  of  day.  In  this  state 
it  is  a  two-winged  fly  belonging  to  the  Order  Diptera,  and 
quite  inconspicuous  in  its  markings  and  appearance. 

It  is  difficult  to  suggest  a  remedy  for  this  pest,  as  its 
presence  is  not  observed  before  the  mischief  is  done. 
Hot  water  has  been  found  ef- 
fectual in  killing  the  Onion 
maggot,  without  injuring  the 
onions,  and  would  doubtless 
prove  as  effectual  for  this  Corn 
maggot,  where  a  few  hills  of 
some  choice  variety  are  attack- 
ed, which  it  is  very  desirable  to  save.  But  its  application- 
in  a  large  field,  even  if  one  knew  where  to  apply  it,  would 
be  impracticable,  and  I  can  only  suggest  soaking  the  seed 
before  planting,  in  gas-tar  or  copperas,  and  hope  that  the 
experiment  will  be  tried  by  those  of  our  Eastern  friends 
who  have  suffered  from  this  maggot. 


Fig.  43.— MAGGOTS  AT  WORK. 


OF  THE   FARM   A.NJ)   GARDEN.  73 

Some  species  are  such  general  feeders  that,  in  group- 
ing insects  according  to  the  plants  to  which  they  are  in- 
jurious, it  becomes  difficult  to  place  them.  The  corn- 
grower,  the  vegetable  gardener,  the  grower  of  small 
fruits,  the  owner  of  lawns  and  pastures,  and  even  the 
nurseryman,  may  each  at  times  properly  look  upon  the 
White  Grub  as  his  worst  insect  enemy.  The  Cut-worms 
and  Wire-worms,  though  less  generally  destructive,  are 
injurious  to  very  unlike  plants,  while  the  False  Wire- 
worms  are  in  this  country,  especially,  known  for  the  in- 
jury they  have  done  to  lilies,  carnations,  and  to  the  potato 
crop.  We  place  these  general  feeding  insects  here,  for 
convenience,  and  shall  refer  to  them  in  treating  of  the 
plants  to  which  they  are  especially  injurious. 


THE  WHITE  GRUB. 

(Lachnosterna  fusca,  Frohl). 

Perhaps  no  destructive  insect  is  better  known  than 
this  in  its  larval  as  well  as  in  its  perfect  state,  by  those 
who  live  in  the  country,  yet  comparatively  few  are  aware 
that  the  frequent  White  Grub  and  the  familiar  May-bug, 
or  June-bug,  or  Dor-bug,  are  different  forms  of  the  same 
insect.  In  the  months  of  May  and  June,  attracted  by 
the  light,  these  beetles  often  make  their  way  into  the 
house,  and  by  the  noise  they  make  in  buzzing  about  and 
knocking  themselves  against  the  walls  and  ceiling,  often 
alarm  nervous  persons.  The  few  that  thus  enter  the 
dwelling  are  merely  indications  that  vast  swarms  are 
upon  the  trees  at  no  great  distance  without.  Unlike 
some  beetles,  this  is  a  voracious  feeder  in  its  perfect  state, 
and  is  destructive  to  trees,  sometimes  completely  denud- 
ing them  of  their  foliage,  without  the  cause  being  dis- 
covered, as  the  beetle  is  active  only  at  night.  Fruit  and 
4 


74  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

ornamental  trees,  as  well  as  forest  trees,  appear  to  be  at- 
tacked indiscriminately.     They  remain  in  the  beetle  state 
but  a  short  time,  and  the  damage  they  do  is  small  as 
compared  with  that  which  they  inflict  in 
their  prolonged  grub  state.     The  beetle 
is  about   an    inch   long,   of    the   shape 
shown  in  figure  44;  its  legs  are  long  and 
slender,  with  sharp  claws,  by  which  it 
can  hold  readily  to  the  foliage,  etc. ;  it 
is  of  a  dark-chestnut  color,  and  covered 
Fig.  44.  with  minute  dots;  each  wing-cover  has 

two  or  three  slighly  elevated  longitudinal 
lines,  and  the  breast  is  covered  with  a  yellowish  down. 
If  the  small  feelers  be  examined,  the  knob  at  the  end 
will  be  found  to  consist  of  three  leaf-like  plates. 

Soon  after  pairing  the  female  enters  the  earth  to  the 
depth  of  a  few  inches,  she  there  deposits  forty  or  fifty 
eggs,  and  soon  dies.  The  eggs  hatch  in  about  a  month, 
and  as  the  grubs  are  at  first  quite  small,  but  little  is 
known  of  their  history  during  their  first  year,  but  they 
no  doubt  subsist  upon  any  small  roots  they  may  come 
across.  In  the  second  year  they  are  large  enough  to  make 
their  presence  felt;  they  then  work  near  the  surface,  and 
it  seems  to  make  little  difference  what  kind  of  root  they 
meet  with,  it  is  cut  off  a  short  distance  below  the  surface  of 
the  ground,  and  the  plant  wilts  and 
dies.  This  happens  to  Indian  corn, 
to  grass,  to  tender  lettuce  in  the  gar- 
den, and  the  woody  roots  of  young 
fruit  trees  in  the  nursery,  as  well  as 
to  the  more  tender  ones  of  the  Straw- 
berry; besides,  it  often  revels  in  the  Fig.  45.-wmTE  GRUB. 
tubers  of  the  potato,  making  the 
crop  fit  only  for  the  pigs;  it  also  does  mischief  in  the 
flower  garden — indeed,  no  live  root  seems  to  come  amiss 
to  this  general  feeder.  The  grub  is  full-grown  in  the 


OF  THE   FARM   AKD   GARDEN.  75 

spring  of  the  third  year  (some  say  the  fourth),  and  is 
then  sometimes  as  large  as  one's  little  finger,  of  the  shape 
shown  in  figure  45.  It  is  soft,  dirty- white,  and  has  a  ma- 
hogany-colored head,  and  is  usually  found  with  its  body 
curved  in  a  semicircle,  though  it  can  straighten  itself  out 
and  crawl  slowly.  In  the  third  year  they  form  a  some- 
what egg-shaped  chamber,  by  sticking  the  particles  of 
earth  together  by  means  of  an  adhesive  fluid,  within 
which  they  assume  the  pupa  state.  These  earthen  co- 
coons are  shown  in  figure  46,  entire,  and  in  figure  47 
cut  open,  showing  the  pupa  within.  In  May,  or  in 
many  localities  not  until  June,  the  change  into  the  per- 
fect beetle  is  completed.  Such  is,  in  brief,  the  natural 


Fig.  46.— COCOON.  Fig  47.-PUPA. 

history  of  the  White  Grub,  which  in  most  respects  resem- 
bles that  of  a  related  insect,  equally  destructive  to  the 
vegetation  of  Europe,  Melolontha  vulgar  is,  known  in 
England  as  Cockchafer,  and  in  France  as  Hanneton, 
which  in  the  last-named  country  causes  such  losses  that 
various  prizes  for  efficient  means  for  its  destruction  have 
been  offered,  but  not  awarded. 

It  should  be  stated  that  a  larva  of  similar  size  and  ap- 
pearance to  the  White  Grub  is  often  found  in  manure 
heaps,  and  farmers,  supposing  them  to  be  identical,  fear 
to  cause  trouble  by  using  the  manure.  This  grub,  known 
as  the  Muck-worm,  is  the  larva  of  a  different  beetle 
(Ligyrus),  and  as  it  feeds  only  upon  decayed  vegetable 
matter,  can  do  no  damage  to  the  crops;  at  most  it  can 
only  consume  a  little  manure.  It  has  a  lead-colored  ap- 


76 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


pearance,  for  its  whole  length,  due  to  the  contents  of  its 
intestines,  which  show  through  the  skin;  the  White  Grub 
shows  this  dark  color  only  near  the  tail  end. 

EEMEDIES. — THE  BEETLE — As  many  insects  are  not  in- 
jurious in  their  perfect  form,  the  June-bug  has  not  gen- 
erally been  regarded  as  harmful.  As  it  is  a  destructive 
feeder  in  its  beetle  state,  it  should  be  destroyed  not  only 
for  the  mischief  it  may  do  as  a  beetle,  but  for  the  pre- 
vention of  its  progeny.  Those  that  enter  the  house 
should  be  caught  and  killed.  In  each  locality  the  insect 
is  usually  more  numerous  than  at  other  times,  once  in 
three  years.  When  the  trees  in  which  they  harbor  are  dis- 


Fig.  48. — LANTERN   TRAP  FOR   THE  JUNE-BUG. 

covered,  large  numbers  may  be  destroyed  by  placing 
sheets  beneath  the  trees,  and  in  early  morning,  when  they 
are  torpid,  the  beetles  may  be  shaken  from  the  trees, 
gathered,  and  destroyed.  As  it  is  only  in  the  perfect  state 
that  any  effective  war  can  be  waged  against  the  White 
Grub,  every  method  should  be  employed  to  kill  as  many 
beetles  as  possible.  That  which  promises  to  be  most  ef- 
fective is,  to  take  advantage  of  the  fact  that  they  are 
attracted  by  light,  and  to  set  traps  for  them.  A  simple 
form  is  to  place  a  lamp  in  a  tub,  made  by  sawing  a  barrel 
in  halves,  in  the  bottom  of  whicli  is  a  few  inches  of  water. 


OF  THE  FARM   AND   GARDEN  77 

Several  lanterns  have  been  especially  devised  which,  by 
throwing  a  strong  light,  will  attract  the  insects.  That 
shown  in  figure  48  is  a  French  device,  modified  by  a 
distinguished  American  horticulturist.  It  consists  of  a 
square  glass  lantern,  at  each  side  of  which  is  a  flaring  tin 
reflector.  At  the  lower  side  of  each  reflector,  near  the 
glass,  is  a  longitudinal  opening.  The  lantern  is  set  upon 
a  cask  or  tub  in  which  there  is  some  water.  The  insects, 
attracted  by  the  light,  fly  towards  it,  and  striking  the 
glass  fall  down  through  the  opening  into  the  water. 
This  has  been  found  very  effective.  It  would  no  doubt 
be  well  to  place  upon  the  water  a  little  kerosene,  just  a 
thin  film,  enough  to  cover  each  insect  as  it  falls  in. 

THE  GRUB. — In  Europe,  with  the  related  grub,  the 
habits  of  which  are  like  those  of  ours,  the  employment  of 
children  to  follow  the  plow  to  pick  up  the  larvae  as  they 
are  exposed,  has  been  found  the  only  efficient  method. 
It  is  probable  that  pigs  and  ducks  might  be  made  useful 
in  a  similar  manner. 

In  gardens,  when  a  vegetable,  a  fruit,  especially  the 
strawberry,  or  a  flower,  is  observed  to  suddenly  wilt  and 
droop,  it  should  at  once  be  lifted,  with  the  surrounding 
earth,  and  the  grub  sought  for  and  destroyed.  The 
grubs  sometimes  cut  the  roots  of  the  grass  in  lawns  to 
such  an  extent  that  the  turf  may  be  rolled  up  like  a  rug. 
Of  course  there  is  no  remedy,  but  to  prevent  further 
trouble  the  grubs  should  be  picked  up,  and  they  are 
sometimes  gathered  by  the  bushel,  before  re-seeding  the 
lawn.  Pastures,  in  which  the  grub  is  present  in  large 
numbers,  should  be  given  over  to  the  swine,  which  will 
soon  dispose  of  them. 

NATURAL  REMEDIES. — Chief  among  these  is  the  much 
abused  Crow,  which  is  most  efficient  in  discovering  these 
grubs  and  destroying  them  in  grass  lands;  by  some  in- 
stinct they  discover  the  hidden  enemy,  and  many  of 


78  INJUEIOUS   INSECTS 

these  birds  will  regularly  visit  an  infested  lawn  or  pas- 
ture every  morning  and  prosecute  their  beneficial  work. 
It  is  not  unlikely  that  much  of  the  corn  pulling  for  which 
these  and  other  birds  are  blamed  is  done  in  the  search 
for  these  grubs.  The  Skunk  is  very  fond  of  the  beetles 
and  destroys  large  numbers  of  them.  In  a  number  of 
localities  in  Ohio,  Iowa,  and  Missouri,  White  Grubs  have 
been  found  with  a  long  horn  protruding  from  each  side 
of  the  head,  as  in  figure  49.  These  "  horns "  do  not 
properly  belong  to  the  grub,  but  are  really  vegetable  para- 


Fig.  49.— WHITE  GRUB  WITH  PAUASITIC  FUNGUS. 

sites,  being  a  kind  of  fungus.  The  occurrence  of  fungi 
upon  other  grubs  in  some  Oriental  countries  has  long 
been  known,  and  the  occasional  abundance  of  this  upon 
our  native  pest,  encourages  the  hope  that  here  may  be 
found  an  important  aid  to  the  cultivator.  At  all  events, 
grubs  found  with  these  horn-like  appendages  should  not 
be  destroyed,  but  left  with  the  hope  that  the  beneficial 
vegetable  may  be  propagated  and  become  common. 

THE   CUT-WORMS. 

Among  the  greatest  enemies  to  the  Corn  crop,  esp, . 
ially  in  its  young  state,  are  the  Out-worms,  though  their 
attacks  are  by  no  means  confined  to  this  plant,  but  they 
feed  upon  a  great  number  of  cultivated  plants,  cutting 
them  off  near  the  surface  of  the  ground.  It  is  a  compar- 
atively recent  discovery  that  some  of  these  worms,  for- 


OF   THE   FARM   AND   GAKDEN.  79 

merly  supposed  to  feed  only  on  the  ground,  climb  fruit 
trees  and  injure  their  buds.  These  are  mentioned  under 
"Insects  Injurious  to  Fruit  Trees."  The  name  Cut- 
worm is  sometimes  incorrectly  applied  to  the  White 
Grub,  the  larva  of  the  May  or  June-bug,  and  also  to  the 
Wire-worms.  The  proper  Cut-worms  are  the  larvae  of 
several  night-flying  moths,  of  the  genus  Agrotis,  and  of 
some  allied  genera,  but  as  their  habits  are  much  alike,  a 
description  of  one  will  answer  in  a  general  way  for  all. 
Related  species  are  destructive  in  England,  where  they 
are  known  as  "Surface  Caterpillars." 

The  moths,  which  usually  appear  in  late  summer,  have 
jin  expanse  of  wing  of  about  an  inch  and  a  half;  they 
arc  of  a  sombre  gray  or  brown  color;  they  rest  with  the 
wings  closed  more  or  less  flatly  over  the  body,  the  upper 
entirely  covering  the  lower  ones,  and  always  have  two, 
more  or  less  distinctly  marked  spots,  the  one  round  and 
the  other  kidney-shaped.  The  moths,  attracted  by  the 
lights,  frequently  enter  houses  at  night;  they  sometimes 
fly  in  cloudy  days  also.  They  deposit  their  eggs  mostly 
in  late  summer,  sometimes  in  spring,  upon  plants  near 
the  surface  of  the  ground;  these  soon  hatch  and  the 
young  larvse  enter  the  earth,  where  they  live  upon  the 
tender  roots  of  grass  and  other  plants,  until  winter,  when, 
about  two-thirds  grown,  they  descend  deeper  into  the 
soil,  and  remain  in  a  torpid  state  during  cold  weather. 
In  spring  they  come  to  the  surface,  and  with  appetites 
sharpened  by  their  long  fast,  are  ready  to  attack  almost 
any  succulent  plant.  They  feed  by  night,  and  hide  in 
holes  just  under  the  surface  during  the  day.  They  have 
a  general  greasy  appearance,  being  smooth,  naked,  and  of 
some  shade  of  gray,  green,  brown,  or  black,  and  variously 
marked;  the  head  is  polished,  and  there  is  a  shield  of 
the  same  color  upon  the  top  of  the  first  and  last  seg- 
ments; when  disturbed  they  coil  themselves  into  a  ball. 
When  the  worms  are  full  grown,  they  descend  deeper 


80  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

into  the  ground,  form  an  earthern  cocoon,  in  which  they 
become  chrysalids,  and  in  summer  or  early  autumn  ap- 
pear as  moths,  to  continue  the  round  of  changes.     There 
are  half  a  dozen  or  more  species  of  this 
terrestrial  or  non-climbing  Cut- worms; 
the  one  chosen  for  illustration  (fig.  50), 
the  Greasy  Cut-worm  (Agrotis  telifera, 
Harr.),  is  one  of  the  most  common,  and 
Fig.  50.  will  give  a  general  idea  of  all.     It  ap- 

pears to  attack  nearly  all  green  cultivat- 
ed plants  with  equal  avidity,  and  has  proved  most 
destructive  to  corn,  tomatoes,  and  tobacco. 

REMEDIES. — Birds  give  much  aid  by  destroying  the 
larvae  when  exposed  by  the  plow.  Chickens  will  destroy 
large  numbers  if  cooped  in  the  garden.  There  are  several 
insect  enemies;  Ichneumon  and  other  flies  deposit  their 
eggs  within  the  worm.  Some  of  the  Cannibal  beetles, 
and  some  spiders  prey  upon  them.  Finding  their  hiding 
places  and  killing  the  worm,  is  the  most  effective  artifi- 
cial remedy.  The  worms  usually  secrete  themselves  in 
the  ground  near  the  place  where  they  have  destroyed  a 
plant,  and  often  drag  a  leaf  to  the  entrance  of  the  hole, 
as  if  to  serve  as  a  guide  to  it.  It  has  been  recommended 
to  make  a  number  of  smooth  holes  near  the  hill  of  corn, 
or  near  other  plants  that  are  attacked,  by  means  of  a 
small  stick;  many  will  take  refuge  in  these,  and  may  be 
killed  the  next  morning  by  the  use  of  the  same  stick. 
This  method  has  been  carried  out  more  expeditiously  by 
the  use  of  a  circular  block  of  wood,  with  several  smooth 
pegs  in  its  under  side  near  the  edge.  This  is  furnished 
with  a  handle,  and  thrusting  it  down  upon  the  soil,  it 
will  make  a  series  of  smooth  holes,  in  which  the  worms 
will  take  refuge;  the  next  day  they  may  be  killed  by  the 
use  of  the  same  implement.  In  localities  where  loss 
from  these  worms  is  apprehended,  it  is  a  wise  precaution 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  81 

to  use  an  abundance  of  seed,  so  that  a  good  stand  may 
be  left  after  they  have  done  their  mischievous  work. 


WIRE-WORMS. 

The  term  Wire-worm,  like  that  of  Cut-worm,  is  some- 
times applied  rather  indefinitely;  the  name  properly  be- 
longs to  the  long  and  slender  larvae  of  several  species  of 
Elater,  popularly  known  as  "  Spring  "  and  as  "  Click- 
beetles."  A  very  large  blackish  beetle,  nearly  two  inches 
long,  with  two  large  round  black  spots  on  its  thorax 
which  are  mistaken  for  eyes,  is  often  found  on  fences, 
sides  of  buildings,  etc.,  in  summer.  This,  when  laid 
upon  its  back,  will  by  a  sudden  spring  throw  itself  into 
the  air  to  the  height  of  several  inches,  and  usually  come 
down  right  side  up.  This,  the  most  conspicuous  of  these 
beetles,  is  not  injurious,  but  there  are  several  others, 
much  smaller,  but  with  the  same  power  of  springing,  the 


Fig.  51.— WIRE-WORM. 

larvae  of  which  are  Wire-worms.  En- 
tomologists have  placed  some  of  these 
insects  in  different  genera,  but  for  the 
present  purpose,  it  is  sufficient  to  regard 
them  all  as  Spring-beetles,  and  their 
larvae  as  Wire-worms.  The  larvae  of 
some  live  only  in  decayed  wood,  and  are  not  injurious, 
while  others  live  in  the  soil,  and  do  great  damage 
to  several  crops.  Figure  51  gives  the  general  appear- 
ance of  the  larva,  and  figure  52  of  the  beetle,  though  in 
some  the  beetle  is  much  narrower  in  proportion.  So  far 
as  is  known  of  their  history,  these  larvae  live  for  several 
years  in  the  ground,  some  say  for  three,  and  others  for 
five  years.  They  are  all  long  in  proportion  to  their 


Eig.  52. 

SNAP-BEETLE. 


82  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

diameter,  their  form  suggesting  the  name  Wire-worm. 
Their  injury  to  the  Potato  crop  is  perhaps  more  gener- 
ally noticed,  as  it  is  sometimes  completely  ruined  by 
them;  they  also  do  much  damage  to  Indian  Corn,  the 
cereal  grains  and  the  grasses.  Plowing,  both  in  fall  and 
early  spring  with  frequent  harrowing,  will  expose  them 
to  the  birds,  who  are  the  chief  help.  In  England,  previ- 
ous to  planting  the  potato  crop,  potatoes,  with  a  stick 
thrust  into  them  to  mark  the  place,  are  buried  here  and 
there  to  serve  as  traps;  they  are  taken  up  at  intervals, 
and  any  worms  that  may  have  collected  on  them  des- 
troyed, 

FALSE  WIRE-WORMS. 

Several  worm-like  creatures  found  in  the  soil  are  pop- 
ularly called  wire-worms,  which  are  not  the  larvae  of  the 
Snap-beetles;  indeed  are  not  any  kind  of  a  larva.  These 
are  now  regarded  as  belonging  as  to  a  sub-order  of  insects, 
the  Myriapods,  which  includes  Centipedes,  Millipedes,  etc. 
The  most  common  representatives  of  these  belong  to  the 
genus  lulus.  They  have  worm-like  bodies,  made  up  of 
numerous  horny  divisions,  most  of  which  bear  two  pairs 
of  legs,  and  there  are  two  short  feelers  at  the  head. 
They  are  of  a  blackish  or  dark-brown  color,  and  when 

disturbed,    coil 
themselves  into  a 
™vmmmanw™<>>>'>r    ^  ring.     They   un- 

Fig.  53.— FALSE  WIRE-WORM  (Mus).  ciergo    no    meta- 

morphosis like  the 

proper  insects,  from  which  they  are  also  distinguished 
by  their  numerous  legs.  Our  species  are  from  an 
inch  to  an  inch  and  a  half  long,  but  in  tropical 
countries  they  reach  six  and  seven  inches.  Many 
of  them  feed  upon  decayed  vegetable  and  animal  matter, 
but  some  of  them  feed  upon  the  roots  of  living  plants, 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  83 

The  engraving  (fig.  53),  which  illustrates  their  general 
appearance,  is  of  our  largest  species  (lulus  multistriatiis, 
Walsh.),  which  has  been  found  in  some  localities  destruc- 
tive to  strawberry  plants,  carnations,  and  especially  to 
lily-bulbs.  Potatoes  have  also  been  much  injured  by 
smaller  species.  Traps  in  the  form  of  potatoes,  as  men- 
tioned under  Wire-worms,  would  be  of  service,  or  slices 
of  apples,  carrots,  potatoes,  or  parsnips,  placed  upon  the 
beds  and  covered  with  pieces  of  board,  will  catch  many 
of  these  millipedes. 


THE    POTATO. 

The  late  B.  D.  Walsh,  the  lamented  senior  editor  of  the 
"American  Entomologist,"  contributed  a  valuable  paper 
to  that  journal,  of  which  the  following  is  the  substance. 
After  commenting  upon  the  absurdity  of  the  various 
articles  in  the  papers  on  "The  Potato  Bug,"  he  shows 
that  there  are  a  number  of  insects  that  are  injurious  to 
the  potato,  and  describes  the  most  important,  beginning 
with 

THE    STALK     BORER. 
(Gortynia  nitida,  Guenee.) 

This  larva  (fig.  54,  2),  commonly  burrows  in  the  large 
stalks  of  the  potato;  but  is  not  peculiar  to  that  plant,  as 
it  occurs  also  in  the  stalks  of  the  tomato,  and  in  those  of 
the  dahlia  and  aster  and  other  garden  flowers.  We  have 
likewise  found  it  boring  through  the  cob  of  growing 
Indian  corn,  and  strangely  confining  itself  to  that  portion 
of  the  ear;  and  we  formerly  received  a  single  specimen 
embedded  in  the  stem  of  Indian  corn,  from  which  we 
subsequently  bred  the  winged  insect.  By  way  of  com- 


84  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

pensation,  we  suppose,  it  is  particularly  partial  to  the 
stem  of  the  common  Cocklebur  (XantMum  strumarium)', 
and  if  it  would  only  confine  itself  to  such  noxious  weeds 
as  this,  it  might  be  considered  as  a  friend  instead  of  an 
enemy.  Fourteen  years  ago  it  was  more  numerous  than 
usual,  and  we  noticed  it  to  be  particularly  abundant 
along  the  Iron  Mountain  and  Pacific  roads  in  Missouri. 

The  larva  of  the  Stalk  Borer  moth  leaves  the  stalk  in 
which  it  has  burrowed  the  latter  part  of  July,  and  descends 
a  little  below  the  surface  of  the  earth,  where  in  about 
three  days  it  changes  into  the  pupa  or  chrysalis  state. 
The  winged  insect  (fig.  54,  1),  which  belongs  to  the  same 


2 

Fig.  54. — POTATO-STALK  BOREB. 
1,  Moth  ;  a,  Larva. 

extensive  group  of  moths  (Noctua  family,  or  owlet  moths) 
to  which  all  the  cut- worm  moths  appertain,  emerges  from 
under  ground  from  the  end  of  August  to  the  middle  of 
September.  Hence  it  is  evident  that  some  few,  at  all 
events,  of  the  female  moths  must  live  through  the  winter 
in  obscure  holes  and  corners,  and  lay  their  eggs  upon  the 
plants  which  they  infest  in  the  following  spring.  For 
otherwise,  as  there  are  no  young  potato  or  tomato  plants, 
or  Indian  corn,  or  dahlias,  or  asters,  or  even  cocklebur 
for  them  to  lay  their  eggs  upon  in  the  autumn,  the  whole 
breed  of  them  would  die  out  in  a  single  year.  When  a 
vine  is  found  to  wilt  suddenly,  it  should  be  examined 
for  this  insect,  which  should  be  destroyed,  to  prevent 
further  increase. 


OF  THE  FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


85 


THE    POTATO-STALK    WEEVIL. 

(Baridius  trinotatus,  Say). 

This  insect  is  more  peculiarly  a  southern  species,  occur- 
ring abundantly  in  the  Middle  States,  and  in  the  more 
southerly  parts  of  Indiana  and  Illinois,  and  also  in  Mis- 
souri; but,  according  to  Dr.  Harris,  being  totally  un- 
known in  New  England.  The  female  beetle  (fig.  55,  c), 
deposits  a  single  egg  in  an  oblong  slit  about  one-eighth 
inch  long,  which  it  has  previously  formed  with  its  beak 

in  the  stalk  of  the  po- 
tato. The  larva  sub- 
sequently hatches  out, 
and  bores  into  the 
heart  of  the  stalk,  al- 
ways, according  to 
Miss  Morris,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, who  was  the 
first  to  notice  it,  pro- 
ceeding downwards  to- 
wards the  root.  When  full  grown,  it  is  a  little  over  one- 
fourth  inch  long  (fig.  55,  a),  and  is  a  soft  whitish,  legless 
grub,  with  a  scaly  head.  Hence  it  can  always  be  readily 
distinguished  from  the  larva  of  the  Stalk  Borer, which  has 
invariably  sixteen  legs,,  no  matter  how  small  it  may  be. 
Unlike  this  last  insect,  it  becomes  a  pupa  (fig.  55,  #),  within 
the  potato  stalk  which  it  inhabits ;  and  it  comes  out  in  the 
beetle  state  about  the  last  of  August  or  the  beginning  of 
September.  The  stalk  inhabited  by  the  larva  almost 
always  wilts  and  dies.  So  soon  as  the  vines  first  wilt, 
they  should  be  pulled  up  and  burned.  The  perfect  bee- 
tle, like  many  other  snout-beetles,  must  of  course  live 
through  the  winter  to  reproduce  its  species  in  the  follow- 
ing spring. 

Miss  Morris  found  that  "  in  many  potato  fields  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Germantown,  Penn.,  every  stem  was  in- 


Fig.  55.— POTATO-STALK  WEEVIL, 
a,  Larva ;  &,  Pupa ;  c,  Weevil. 


86  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

fested  by  these  insects,  causing  the  premature  decay  of 
the  yines  and  giving  to  them  the  appearance  of  haying 
been  scalded. 

THE    POTATO-WORM    OR    TOMATO-WORM. 
(Sphinx  quinque-maculata,  Haworth). 

This  well-known  insect,  the  larva  of  which  is  usually 
called  the  Potato- worm,  but  it  is  far  commoner  on  the 
closely  allied  tomato,  the  foliage  of  which  it  often  clears 
off  very  completely  in  particular  spots  in  a  single  night. 
Many  persons  are  afraid  to  handle  this  worm,  from  an 
absurd  idea  that  it  has  the  power  of  stinging  with  the 
horn  on  its  tail.  This  worm  is  shown  in  fig.  5G,  about 
two- thirds  grown.  We  have  handled  hundreds  of  them 
with  perfect  impunity;  in  fact,  this  dreadful  looking 
horn  is  not  peculiar  to  the  Potato-worm,  but  is  met  with 
in  almost  all  the  larvae  of  the  large  and  beautiful  group 
to  which  it  belongs  (Sphinx  family).  It  seems  to  have 
no  special  use,  but,  like  the  bunch  of  hair  on  the  breast 
of  the  turkey  cock,  to  be  a  mere  ornamental  appendage. 

When  full-fed,  which  is  usually  about  the  last  of 
August,  the  Potato-worm  burrows  under  ground  and 
shortly  afterward  transforms  into  the  pupa  state  (fig.  57. 
The  pupa  is  very  often  dug  up  in  the  spring  from  ground 
where  tomatoes  or  potatoes  were  grown  in  the  preceding 
season;  and  most  persons  that  meet  with  it  suppose  that 
the  singular,  jug-handled  appendage  at  one  end  of  it,  is 
its  tail.  In  reality,  however,  it  is  the  tongue-case,  and 
contains  the  long  pliable  tongue  which  the  future  moth 
will  employ  in  lapping  up  the  nectar  of  the  flowers,  before 
which,  in  the  dusky  gloom  of  some  warm,  balmy 
summer's  evening,  it  hangs  for  a  few  moments  suspended 
in  the  air. 

The  moth  itself  (fig.  58),  was  formerly  confounded 
with  the  Tobacco-worm  moth  (Sphinx  Carolina.,  Lin- 


OE  THE   FARM   A^D   GARDEN. 


87 


88  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

naeus),  which  indeed  it  very  closely  resembles,  having  the 
same  series  of  orange-colored  spots  on  each  side  of  the 
abdomen.  The  gray  and  black  markings,  however,  of 
the  wings  differ  perceptibly  in  the  two  species;  and  in 
the  Tobacco-worm  moth  there  is  always  a  more  or  less 
faint  white  spot  or  dot  near  the  centre  of  the  front  wing, 
which  is  never  met  with  in  the  other  species.  In  Con- 
necticut and  other  Northern  States  where  Tobacco  is 
grown,  the  Potato-worm  often  feeds  upon  the  leaves  of 
the  Tobacco  plant,  the  true  Tobacco-worm  being  unknown 
in  those  latitudes.  In  the  more  southerly  States,  on  the 

other  hand,  and  in  Mex- 
ico and  the  West  In- 
dies, the  true  Potato- 
worm  is  unknown,  and  it 
is  the  Tobacco-worm  that 
Fig.  59.— POTATO-WOKM,  WITH  PARA-  the  tobacco  growers  have 

to  fight.     While   in    the 

intermediate  country  both  species  may  frequently  be 
captured  on  the  wing  in  the  same  garden  and  upon  the 
same  evening.  In  other  words,  the  Potato-worm  is  a 
northern  species,  the  Tobacco- worm  a  southern  species; 
but  on  the  confines  of  the  two  districts  exclusively 
inhabited  by  each,  they  intermingle  in  varying  propor- 
tions, according  to  the  latitude. 

KEMEDIES. — The  larva  is  so  voracious  that  it  soon 
makes  its  presence  known  by  the  bare  stems,  and  by  the 
abundant  droppings  found  upon  the  ground,  and  should 
be  sought  for  and  destroyed.  It  has  more  than  one  in- 
sect enemy,  notably  a  fly,  the  larva  of  which,  after 
making  its  growth  within  the  Potato-worm,  comes  to 
the  surface  and  spins  a  smooth  white  cocoon.  Some- 
times a  very  thin  and  feeble  worm  will  be  found  with  its 
back  covered  with  these  cocoons,  as  in  fig.  59.  Such, 
when  found,  should  not  be  killed,  as  it  is  desirable  to 
propagate  the  fly,  and  the  worm  will  never  perfect  itself. 


OF  THE   FAKM   AKD   GABDE^.  89 

Tobacco  growers  sometimes  place  some  poisonous  syrup 
in  the  long  tubular  flowers  of  the  Jamestown  Weed 
(Datura  Stramonium),  and  thus  kill  the  moths. 

THE    STRIPED    BLISTER-BEETLE. 
(Lytta  vittata,  Fabr). 

The  three  insects  just  described  infest  the  potato  plant 
in  the  larva  state  only,  the  first  two  of  them  burrowing 
internally  in  the  stalk  or  stem,  the  third  feeding  upon 
its  leaves  externally.  Of  these  three  the  first  and  third 
are  moths  or  scaly-winged  insects  (Order  Lepidoptera). 
The  second  of  the  three,  as  well  as  the  next 
four  foes  of  the  potato,  which  we  shall 
notice,  are  all  of  them  beetles  or  shelly- 
winged  insects  (Order  Coleoptera).  As  these 
four  species  all  agree  with  one  another  in 
living  under  ground  and  feeding  upon  vari- 
ous roots,  during  the  larva  state,  and  in 
emerging  to  attack  the  foliage  of  the  potato,  Fig  GO.-STRIF- 
only  when  in  the  course  of  the  summer  they  ED  BLISTBB- 
have  passed  into  the  perfect  or  beetle  state, 
it  will  be  quite  unnecessary  to  repeat  this  statement 
under  the  head  of  each  of  the  four.  In  fact,  the  four 
are  so  closely  allied,  that  they  all  belong  to  the  same 
family  of  beetles,  the  Blister-beetles  (Lytta  family) — 
to  which  the  common  imported  Spanish-fly  or  Blister- 
beetle  of  the  druggists  appertains — and  all  of  them 
will  raise  just  as  good  a  blister  as  that  does,  and  are 
equally  poisonous  when  taken  internally  in  large  doses. 
The  Striped  Blister-beetle  (fig.  60,)  is  almost  exclusively 
a  southern  species,  occurring  in  particular  years  very 
abundantly  on  the  potato  vine  in  Central  and  Southern 
Illinois,  and  also  in  Missouri,  but  in  North  Illinois  being 
usually  rare.  A  few  years  ago  it  was  reported  by  Mr. 
Graham  Lee,  of  Mercer  County,  of  K  111.,  and  also 


90  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

by  Oapt.  Beebe,  of  Galena,  N.  111.,  as  occurring 
in  very  large  numbers  upoa  their  potatoes,  and,  ac- 
cording to  Dr.  Harris,  it  is  occasionally  found  even  in 
New  England.  In.  some  specimens,  the  broad  outer 
black  stripe  on  the  wing-cases  is  divided  lengthways  by  a 
slender  yellow  line,  so  that  instead  of  two  there  are  three 
black  stripes  on  each  wing-case;  and  in  the  same  field  we 
have  noticed,  on  two  separate  occasions,  that  all  the 
intermediate  grades  between  the  two  varieties  may  be 
met  with;  thus  proving  that  the  four-striped  individuals 
do  not  form  a  distinct  species,  as  was  formerly  supposed, 
but  are  mere  varieties  of  the  same  species  to  which  the 
six-striped  individuals  appertain.  Some  years  since  we 
found  the  insect  very  abundant  on  the  potato  in  Cham- 
paign Co.,  111.,  and  Mr.  Merton  Dunlap,  of  Champaign, 
told  us  that  he  had  succeeded  in  driving  them  with 
brush  off  his  potato-patch  on  to  some  old  hay  which 
he  had  prepared  to  receive  them,  and  then,  setting  fire 
to  the  hay,  consumed  them  bodily.  Many  such  cases 
may  be  found  recorded  in  different  agricultural  journals. 
Mr.  M.  S.  Hill,  of  East  Liverpool,  Ohio,  states  in  the 
"Practical  Entomologist"  (vol.  I,  p.  197),  that  this 
species  had  once  swarmed  on  the  potato  vines  in  his 
neighborhood,  and  that  "the  most  successful  method  of 
destroying  them  was  by  placing  between  the  furrows  or 
rows,  dry  hay  or  straw,  and  setting  it  on  fire."  "The 
bugs,"  he  adds,  "  were  thus  nearly  all  destroyed,  and  the 
straw  burning  very  quickly  did  not  injure  the  vines." 

THE    ASH-GRAY    BLISTER-BEETLE. 

(Lytta  cinerea,  Fabr.) 

This  species  (fig.  61,  a,  male)  is  the  one  commonly 
found  in  the  more  northerly  parts  of  the  Northern  States, 
where  it  usually  takes  the  place  of  the  Striped  Blister- 
beetle.  It  is  of  a  uniform  ash-gray  color;  but  this  color  is 


OF   THE   FARM    AND 


given  it  by  the  presence  upon  its  body  of  minute  ash-gray  ' 
scales  or  short  hairs,  and  whenever  these  are  rubbed  off, 
which  happens  almost  as  readily  as  on  the  wings  of  a  but- 
terfly, the  original  black  color  appears.  It  attacks  not  only 
potato  vines,  but  also  Honey-locusts,  and  especially  the 
English  and  Windsor  bean.  In  one  particular  year,  we 
have  known  them,  in  conjunction  with  about  equal 
numbers  of  the  common  liose-bug  (Macrodactylus  sub- 
spinosus,  Linn.),  to  swarm  upon  every  apple  tree  in  a  small 
orchard  in  Northern  Illinois,  not  only  eating  the  foliage, 
but  gnawing  into  the  young  apples.  They  were  formerly 
quite  common  in  parts  of  Illinois,  Missouri,  Wisconsin, 


Fig.   61.— ASH-GRAY  (a),   AND  BLACK-BAT  (6)  BLISTER-BEETLES. 

and  Iowa;  and  the  people  there  got  so  habituated  to  the 
presence  of  the  Colorado  bug,  that  in  many  cases  they 
thought  it  was  a  fresh  invader  from  the  region  of  the 
Rocky  Mountains:  whereas  it  has  existed  everywhere  in 
the  more  northerly  parts  of  the  United  States  from  time 
immemorial. 

THE    BLACK-RAT    AND    BLACK    BLISTER-BEETLES. 
(Lytta  murina,  Leconte,  and  L.  atrata,  Fabr.) 

The  first  of  these,  the  Black-rat  Blister-beetle  (fig.  61, 
b9)  is  entirely  black,  and  is  sometimes  found  in  swarms 
upon  the  potato  vines  in  the  more  Northern  States. 
There  is  a  very  similar  species,  the  Black  Blister-beetle 


92  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

(Lytta  atrata,  Fabr.),  from  which  the  Black-rat  Blister- 
beetle  is  distinguishable  only  by  having  four  raised  lines 
placed  lengthways  upon  each  wing-case,  and  by  the  two 
first  joints  of  the  antennae  being  greatly  dilated  and 
lengthened  in  the  males,  as  above  in  figure  61,  c.  The 
true  Black  Blister-beetle  we  have  never  met  with,  except 
quite  late  in  the  year,  namely  about  the  last  of  August  or 
the  fore  part  of  September;  usually  upon  the  flowers  of  the 
Golden-rod,  the  Thistle,  etc.  It  sometimes  does  inj  ury 
in  the  potato  field,  especially  when  the  development  of 
the  tubers  has  been  retarded,  but  generally  appears  too 
late  in  the  season  to  prove  very  destructive. 

THE    MARGINED    BLISTER-BEETLE. 
(Lytta  marginata,  Fabr.) 

This  species  (fig.  62,)  may  be  at  once  recognized  by  its 
general  black  color,  and  the  narrow  ash-gray 
edging  to  its  wing-cases.  It  usually  feeds  on 
certain  wild  plants;  but  has  been  found  quite 
abundant  on  potatoes  in  Missouri,  Illinois, 
and  elsewhere.  It  is  a  common  species  in 
the  Mississippi  Valley,  and  prefers  most  other 
varieties  of  the  potato  to  the  "  Peach  Blow." 
It  feeds  on  many  other  plants,  and  especially 
the  Kentucky  Coffee-tree  (Gymnocladus). 
It  also  attacks  the  Egg  Plant. 

THE    THREE-LINED    LEAF-BEETLE. 

(Lema  trilineata,  Olivier.) 

The  first  three  insects,  described  and  figured  above  as 
infesting  the  potato-plant,  attack  it  only  in  the  larva 
state.  The  four  next,  namely  the  four  Blister-beetles, 
attack  it  exclusively  in  the  perfect  state.  The  three  that 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN". 


remain  to  bo  considered  attack  it  both  in  the  larva  and 
in  the  perfect  state,  but  go  underground  to  pass  into  the 
pupa  state;  in  which  state — like  all  other  beetles,  with- 
out exception — they  are  quiescent,  and  eat  nothing  at  all. 

The  larva  of  the  Three-lined  Leaf -beetle  may  be  distin- 
guished from  all  other  insects  that  prey  upon  the  potato 
by  its  habit  of  covering  itself  with  its  own  excrement. 
In  figure  63,  a,  this  larva  is  shown  in  profile,  both  full 
and  half  grown,  covered  with  the  soft,  greenish  excre- 
mentitious  matter  which  from  time  to  time  it  discharges. 
Figure  63,  c,  gives  a  somewhat  magnified  view  of  the 
pupa;  and  figure  G3,  b,  shows  the  last  few  joints  of 
the  abdomen  of  the 
larva,  magnified,  and 
viewed,  not  in  profile, 
but  from  above.  The 
vent  of  the  larva,  as 
will  be  seen  from  this 
last  figure,  is  situated 
on  the  upper  surface 
of  the  last  joint,  so 
that  its  excrement 
naturally  falls  upon 
its  back,  and  by  suc- 
cessive discharges  is  pushed  forward  towards  its  head, 
till  the  whole  upper  surface  of  the  insect  is  covered  with 
it.  In  other  insects,  which  do  no  not  indulge  in  this 
singular  practice,  the  vent  is  situated  either  at  the  ex- 
treme tip  of  the  abdomen  or  on  its  lower  surface. 

There  are  several  other  larvae,  feeding  upon  other 
plants,  which  commonly  wear  cloaks  of  this  strange 
material,  among  which  may  be  mentioned  the  larvae  of 
certain  Tortoise-beetles  (Cassida),  some  of  which  feed  on 
the  Sweet  Potato  vines.  (See  SWEET  POTATO.  ) 

There  are  two  broods  of  this  species  every  year.  The 
first  brood  of  larvae  may  be  found  on  the  potato  vine 


Fig.  63. — THREE-LINED  LEAP-BEETLE, 
a,  Larva ;  fe,  End  of  Body ;  c,  Pupa ;  d,  Eggs. 


94  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

towards  the  latter  end  of  June,  and  the  second  in  August. 
The  first  brood  stays  underground  about  a  fortnight 
before  it  emerges  in  the  perfect  beetle  state;  and  the 
second  brood  stays  there  all  winter,  and  only  emerges  at 
the  beginning  of  the  following  June.  The  perfect  Beetle 
(fig.  64,)  is  of  a  pale  yellow  color,  with  three  black 
stripes  on  its  back,  and  bears  a  general  resemblance  to 
the  common  Cucumber-bug  (Dictbrotica  vittata,  Fabr., 
see  fig.  27,  p.  42).  From  this  last  species,  however,  it 
may  be  readily  distinguished  by  the  remarkable  pinching 
in  of  the  sides  of  its  thorax,  so  as  to  make 
quite  a  lady-like  waist  there,  or  what  nat- 
uralists call  a  "  constriction."  It  is  also 
on  the  average  a  somewhat  larger  insect, 
and  differs  in  other  less  obvious  respects. 
As  in  the  case  of  the  Colorado  Potato-bug, 
the  female,  after  coupling  in  the  usual  man- 
ner,  lays  her  yellow  eggs  (fig.  63,  d,)  on 
the  under  surface  of  the  leaves  of  the 
potato  plant.  The  larvae  hatching  from  these  require 
about  the  same  time  to  develop,  and  when  full  grown, 
descend  in  the  same  manner  into  the  ground,  where  they 
transform  to  pupae  (fig.  63,  c,)  within  a  small  oval 
chamber,  from  which  in  time  the  perfect  beetle  comes 
forth.  The  remedies  for  the  Colorado  Beetle  should  be 
used  for  this. 

THE    COLORADO    POTATO-BEETLE. 

(Doryphora  10-lineata,  Say.) 

RETROSPECTIVE. 

In  1819  the  United  States  Government  fitted  out  an 
exploring  expedition  to  the  Northwest  Territories  under 
the  command  of  Major  Stephen  H.  Long.  The  zoologist 
of  this  expedition  was  Mr.  Thomas  Say,  of  Philadelphia, 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GABDEK.  95 

whose  name  has  since  become  so  familiar  to  every  ento- 
mologist. While  on  this  expedition,  extending  through 
1819  and  1820,  numerous  specimens  of  a  species  of  beetle 
were  found  on  the  Upper  Missouri,  near  the  base  of  the 
Kocky  Mountains,  which  some  four  years  later (1824)  Mr. 
Say  described  in  a  paper  read  before  the  Academy  of 
Natural  Sciences,  Philadelphia,  under  the  name  of 
Dorypliora  IQ-lineata,  an  insect  that  has  since  received 
the  common  name  of  Colorado  Potato-beetle. 

At  the  time  of  its  discovery,  neither  Mr.  Say  nor  any 
of  his  associates  could  have  had  the  remotest  idea  that  this 
insect  would  at  some  future  day  become  one  of  the  greatest 
pests  that  ever  afflicted  the  farms  and  gardens  of  this 
country.  Later  explorers,  visiting  the  same  regions  of 
country  where  Mr.  Say  originally  found  the  "  ten-liners," 
discovered  it  feeding  on  a  wild  species  of  Solanum  (8. 
rostratum),  a  plant  allied  to  and  belonging  to  the  same 
genus  as  the  cultivated  Potato  (Solanum  tuberosum). 
The  pioneers  on  the  western  plains  and  prairies  little 
imagined  that  they  were  in  such  close  proximity  to  an 
insect  that  would  soon  pive  an  immense  amount  of 

O 

trouble,  and  make  the  cultivation  of  the  Potato  anything 
but  a  pleasant  and  profitable  occupation.  But  in  1861, 
Mr.  Thomas  Murphy,  of  Atchison,  Kansas,  reported  that 
they  were  so  numerous  in  his  garden  that  he  was  enabled 
in  a  very  short  time  to  gather  two  bushels  of  them.  His 
potatoes  were  quickly  destroyed,  and  the  beetles  then 
spread  in  all  directions.  Later  they  appeared  in  parts 
of  Iowa,  and  subsequently  passed  eastward,  cross- 
ing the  Mississippi  Eiver,  and  appearing  in  several 
localities  almost  simultaneously  within  the  State  of 
Illinois.  In  stating  that  this  insect  passes  from  one 
locality  to  another,  it  must  not  be  understood  that  it 
migrates,  it  merely  spreads,  enough  remaining  behind  to 
keep  up  an  abundant  stock,  and  they  are  probably  now 
no  less  abundant  at  points  in  the  Western  States  than 


96  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

when  first  discovered  there  by  Mr.  Say,  over  sixty  years 
ago.  The  sudden  and  enormous  increase  in  numbers,  as 
noted  in  Kansas  and  Iowa,  was  wholly  due  to  the  increase 
in  the  supply  of  food,  for  so  long  as  this  insect  had  to 
depend  upon  the  few  scattering  plants  of  the  wild  Sola- 
num,  as  found  on  the  plains,  its  numbers  were  limited 
to  a  few  thousands,  or  perhaps  hundreds  to  the  square 
mile;  but  as  a  single  acre  of  potatoes  will  probably  furnish 
more  food  than  all  the  wild  plants  on  a  hundred  acres  of 
prairie,  the  sudden  increase  of  this  pest  when  it  reached 
the  out-lying  settlements  or  farms  of  Kansas,  Nebraska 
and  Iowa,  can  readily  be  accounted  for.  A  few  years  ago, 
their  ravages  in  Nebraska  and  Kansas  were  severe. 
Since  then  the  bugs  have  not  caused  much  damage 
west  of  the  Missouri. 

At  first  the  progress  of  the  beetles  eastward  was  at  the 
rate  of  about  sixty  or  seventy-five  miles  annually,  but 
as  they  reached  the  more  thickly  settled  regions  their 
progress  was  more  rapid,  probably  receiving  some  assist- 
ance from  the  railroads,  specimens  flying  into  the  cars  at 
some  western  station  and  escaping  at  another  a  hundred 
or  two  miles  eastward,  or  in  whatever  direction  the  train 
may  have  been  going. 


NATURAL      HISTORY     AND     TRANSFORMATIONS. 

Prof.  Riley  was  the  first  to  make  known  the  natural  his- 
tory and  transformations  of  the  Potato-beetle.  They  may 
be  briefly  summed  up  as  follows:  The  female  beetle  depos- 
its her  eggs  on  the  underside  of  the  leaves,  iii  clusters  of  a 
dozen,  up  to  fifty  or  more.  The  eggs  are  of  an  orange 
color,  and  hatch  in  about  a  week  after  being  laid,  the 
grubs  immediately  commencing  to  feed  and  continuing 
until  mature,  which  occurs  in  from  fourteen  to  eighteen 
days,  varying  somewhat  as  the  weather  may  be  favorable 


OF   THE   FARM   AtfD   GARDEN. 


97 


or  unfavorable.  When  full  grown,  the  larvae  descend  to 
the  ground  and  hide  under  leaves  or  rubbish,  or  burrow 
into  the  soil,  where  they  remain  for  ten  days,  then  come 
forth  in  the  perfect  or  winged  form.  Two  to  four  broods 
are  perfected  during  the  season,  according  to  the  locality 
and  length  of  the  season,  the  last  brood  descending  into 
the  ground  in  the  perfect  or  beetle  state,  and  remaining 
in  a  dormant  condition  over  winter, — reappearing  as  soon 
as  the  ground  has  become  sufficiently  warm  to  awaken 


Fig.  65.—  COLORADO  POTATO-BEETLE  (D&rypTiora  10-Uneatd). 
n  different  st 
size  ;  e,  Left 


a,  a,  Eggs  ;  ft,  b,  Larva  in  different  stages  ;  c,  Pupa  ;  d,  d,  Perfect  Beetles  of  natural 

Wing-cover,  enlarged. 


them  from  their  slumbers.  The  beetles  at  this  time  may 
usually  be  seen  crawling  about  very  rapidly,  looking  for 
the  first  shoots  of  the  potato  as  it  appears  above  ground, 
which  they  attack  as  though  their  appetite  had  been 
sharpened  by  a  long  fast. 

This  beetle  is  now  too  well  known  to  need  description, 
but  it  may  be  well  to  note  that  there  is  a  closely  allied 
species  (Dorypliora  juncta,  Germar.),  often  confounded 
with  the  genuine  "ten-liner/'  although  it  never  attacks 
the  Potato,  but  feeds  upon  various  species  of  wild  Solanum, 
5 


$8  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

especially  the  Horse-nettle  (Solatium  Carolinense),  a  very 
common  weed  throughout  the  Middle  and  Southern 
States.  Both  the  larva  and  mature  insect  of  this  Bogus 
Potato-beetle  resemble  the  genuine;  but  upon  a  close 
examination,  a  very  marked  difference  may  be  discovered. 
The  most  prominent  distinctive  characteristics  observed 
in  the  nearly  mature  larvae  are  as  follows:  In  the  true  or 
D.  W-lineata  the  sides  are  ornamented  with  two  rows  of 
black  dots,  and  the  head  is  black;  while  in  juncta  there 
is  but  one  row  of  dots,  and  the  head  is  of  a  pale  color; 
the  first  joint  behind  the  head  is  reddish-brown  and  edged 
with  blaok.  The  mature  insects  differ  still  more  widely, 


d 

Fig.   66.— BOGUS  COLORADO  BEETLE  (DwypJlOTa  juncia). 
a,  a,  Eggs ;  6,  ft,  Larvae ;  c.  Beetle,  natural  size ;  d,  Left  Wing-cover,  enlarged. 

for  while  W-lineata,  as  the  name  indicates,  has  ten  black 
stripes  on  its  elytra,  the  third  and  fourth  stripe  counting 
from  the  outside,  are  joined  behind;  in  juncta,  the 
second  and  third  are  joined,  and  in  a  large  proportion 
the  two  stripes  are  united  the  entire  length,  by  deep 
brown,  or  black,  thus  forming  one  broad  and  conspicuous 
stripe.  There  are  also  other  distinctive  characters,  shown 
in  the  accompanying  figures,  such  as  the  arrangements 
of  the  punctures  bordering  the  stripes  on  the  elytra,  but 
these  are  less  conspicuous  to  the  casual  observer. 

A  few  years  since  I  tried  to  rear  a  quantity  of  the 
larvae  sent  me  from  the  South  on  the  leaves  of  the  Potato, 
but  failed  to  carry  a  single  specimen  through  to  maturity 


OE  THE  FARM  AHD   GARDEN".  90 

on  such  food.  The  grubs  will,  when  deprived  of  other 
and  more  agreeable  food,  attack  the  Potato  leaves,  but 
after  eating  a  few  moments,  crawl  away,  and  unless 
supplied  with  more  of  the  Horse-nettle,  soon  die.  But 
the  genuine  W-lineata  is  not  so  particular  in  regard  to 
its  food,  since  the  Horse -nettle  and  various  other  species 
of  Solanum  are  just  as  acceptable  as  the  Potato,  and  the 
Egg-plant  (S.  melongena)  is  preferred  to  either.  On  a 
pinch  it  will  even  feed  on  Jamestown-weed  (Datura)^ 
Cabbage  or  Smart-weed,  though  it  is  questionable  whether 
it  could  thrive  for  any  length  of  time  on  plants  belonging 
to  other  families  than  that  of  the  Potato. 

METHOD     OF     DESTROYING. 

The  first  step  or  most  practical  method  of  making  war 
upon  this  insect  is  the  destruction  of  the  few  or  many 
that  come  out  of  the  ground  in  spring,  for  each  female 
killed  at  this  time  may  safely  be  said  to  represent  five  to 
ten  hundred  in  the  succeeding  generation,  for  she  will, 
if  not  prevented,  lay  about  that  number  of  eggs.  Some 
persons,  however,  claim  that  it  is  much  the  best  way  to 
allow  the  beetles  to  take  their  own  course,  and  then 
destroy  the  larvae  a  few  days  later,  when  they  have  fairly 
commenced  feeding  upon  the  leaves,  by  applying  some 
one  or  more  of  the  various  poisons  recommended  for  this 
purpose.  That  either  the  beetles  or  the  grubs  must  be 
destroyed  in  order  to  save  the  crop,  is  now  generally 
admitted,  and  the  only  room  for  a  difference  of  opinion 
is  as  to  how  it  should  be  done.  Scores  of  different  sub- 
stances have  been  tried  for  this  purpose,  but  none  have 
proved  so  effectual  and  economical  as  Paris  Green  and 
other  arsenical  compounds.  That  these  poisons  are 
dangerous  to  have  about  a  place,  is  admitted,  and  so  are 
sharp  knives,  reapers,  and  mowers,  still  it  is  not  as  easy  to 
do  without  them  as  to  be  a  little  careful  in  using,  and 


100  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

thereby  avoid  accidents.  The  Paris  Green  is  destructive 
to  the  Potato-beetle  in  both  its  perfect  and  larval  states, 
and  one  pound  of  the  poison,  mixed  with  twenty  of  pul- 
verized plaster,  or  of  any  common  kind  of  flour,  and 
dusted  over  the  leaves  while  wet  with  dew  in  the  morning, 
or  after  a  shower,  will  quickly  cause  the  death  of  all  the 
grubs  or  perfect  insects  feeding  thereon. 

A  duster  should  be  used  for  applying  the  poison,  and 
one  made  of  tin,  with  a  perforated  bottom,  and  attached 
to  a  handle  four  or  five  feet  long,  will  be  found  a  very  con- 
venient implement  for  this  purpose.  But  the  operator 
should  be  careful  not  to  allow  the  compound  to  blow  into 
his  face,  or  inhale  it  while  at  work,  it  being  only  neces- 
sary for  him  to  keep  in  mind  that  he  is  handling  a  viru- 
lent poison,  and  act  accordingly.  The  Green  may  also  be 
applied  by  mixing  it  with  water,  but  as  it  will  not  dis- 
solve, being  merely  suspended  in  the  liquid,  it  is  neces- 
sary to  frequently  agitate  the  mixture  in  order  to  prevent 
the  poison  settling  to  the  bottom,  as  well  as  to  insure  its 
uniform  distribution  over  the  leaves.  But  water  is  a 
heavy  material  to  handle,  and  unless  one  has  the  con- 
veniences for  applying  it,  the  dusting  process  will  require 
the  least  labor. 

London  Purple  may  be  applied  in  the  same  way  as 
Paris  Green,  and  will  prove  equally  effective,  besides 
being  much  cheaper.*  With  most  destructive  beetles 
the  larva  is  alone  injurious,  but  the  perfect  Colorado- 
bsetle  eats  as  well  as  its  larvaB. 

NATUBAL   ENEMIES. 

There  are  a  number  of  other  insects  that  aid  in  keep- 
ing the  Colorado-beetle  in  check.  Active  among  these  is 

*A  more  detailed  history  of  the  Colorado  Beetle,  as  well  as  various 
forms  of-  apparatus  for  distributing;  Paris  Green  and  other  arsenical  poi- 
sons, will  be  found  in  "  Potato  Pests,"  a  special  treatise  by  C.  V.  Riley, 
of  over  one  hundred  pages. — New  York  :  The  Orange  Judd  Company. 


OF  THE  FARM  AOT   GARDEN. 


101 


the  larvae  of  several  .Lady-birds,  or  Lady-bugs,  the  per- 
fect beetles  being  red,  pink,  or  other  bright  color,  with 
black  spots,  and  generally  well  known  by  the  above  pop- 
ular names.  Their  larvae  are  very  active  and 
do  good  service  in  destroying  both  the  eggs 
and  the  larvae  of  the  Potato-beetle.  Their 
pupae  often  resemble  the  larva  of  the  Colorado- 
beetle,  and  are  destroyed  by  mistake.  Figure 
67  shows  one  of  these  larvae;  the  hair  line 
gives  the  real  size.  Besides  these,  there  are 
several  carnivorous  beetles,  the  Tiger-beetles, 
and  Ground-beetles,  which  prey  upon  both 
the  larvae  and  the  perfect  insect.  A  full  account 
of  the  various  insects  that  prey  upon  the  Colorado- 

\ 


.  68.—  PARASITE  OP  COLORADO-BEETLE  (Uropoda  Americana). 


a,  Beetle  attacked  by  it,  natural  size  ;  ft,  Mite;  c,  penetrating  or  attacking  organs; 
d,  Claw  at  the  end  of  attacking  organs  ;  e,  Filament—  all  much  enlarged. 

beetle,  is  given  in  Prof.  Riley's  work,  just  referred  to. 
The  perfect  insect  is  attacked  by  a  mite  which  occurs  in 
such  numbers  as  to  completely  cover  its  victim,,  and  it 


102  LtfJUKIOUS   INSECTS 

soon  perishes.  Figure  68,  shows  at  a,  the  Colorado- 
beetle  of  the  natural  size,  covered  by  this  mite  ( Uropoda 
Americana,  Riley),  #,  the  mite  greatly  magnified,  with  a 
long  filament  which  helps  it  to  attach  itself  to  the  beetle; 
c,  the  penetrating  organs;  d,  the  claw  at  the  end  of  these. 


SWEET-POTATO. 

The  insects  which  attack  the  Sweet-potato  plant  are 
few  in  species,  and  belong  almost  entirely  to  that  group 
of  beetles  popularly  known  as  Tortoise-beetles.  With  the 
exception  of  the  Cucumber  Flea-beetle  (Haltica  cu- 
cumeris,  Harr.),  and  a  few  solitary  caterpillars,  other 
insects  have  not  been  found  on  this  plant;  still  these 
Tortoise-beetles  are  of  themselves  sufficiently  numerous 
in  individuals  and  species  to  often  entirely  destroy  whole 
fields  of  this  esculent,  and  they  are  especially  severe  on 
the  plants  when  newly  transferred  from  the  hot-bed. 

TORTOISE-BEETLES. 
(Cassidce.) 

These  Tortoise-beetles  have  thus  far  been  found  in 
considerable  numbers  in  the  Southern  States,  but  the 
cultivation  of  the  Sweet-Potato  is  annually  becoming 
more  general  in  northern  localities,  and  as  there  is  con- 
siderable traffic  in  plants,  it  is  probable  that  the  insect 
pests  will  spread  as  food  for  them  is  provided.  Every 
one  who  receives  Sweet-Potato  plants,  or  "  sets,"  from 
another  locality,  should  carefully  examine  them  before 
they  are  planted,  to  see  that  no  insect  is  introduced  with 
them. 

These  insects  are  almost  all  of  a  broad  sub-depressed 
f orm,  either  oval  or  orbicular,  with  the  thorax  and  wing- 


OF  THE  FARM  AND  GARDEN.  103 

covers  so  thoroughly  dilated  at  the  sides  into  a  broad  and 
flat  margin,  as  to  forcibly  recall  the  appearance  of  a  tur- 
tle, whence  the  popular  name.  Many  have  the  singular 
power,  in  a  greater  or  less  degree,  of  changing  their  color 
when  alive,  some  of  them  shine  at  will  with  the  most 
brilliant  metallic  tints. 

Insects,  like  the  higher  animals,  are  usually  cleanly  in 
voiding  their  excrement,  but  the  larvae  of  several  species 
of  beetle  have  the  peculiar  habit  of  covering  themselves 
with  their  own  excrement.  The  larvae  of  the  Three-lined 
Leaf -beetle  (Lema  trilineata,  Oliv.),  which  sometimes 
proves  injurious  to  the  potato  in  the  East,  has  this  habit, 
as  do  several  others. 

But  the  larvae  of  the  Tortoise-beetles  are  par  excellence 
the  true  dung-carriers.  In  the  instances  related  above, 
the  load  is  carried  immediately  on  the  back,  but  our  Tor- 
toise-beetles are  altogether  more  refined  in  their  tastes, 
and  do  not  allow  the  dung  to  rest  on  the  body,  but  simply 
shade  themselves  with  a  sort  of  stercoraceous  parasol. 

The  larvae  of  all  the  species  that  have  been  observed  are 
broad  and  flattened  like  the  beetles,  and  have  the  margins 
of  the  body  furnished  with  spines  which  are  often 
barbed  (fig.  75).  Usually  there  are  thirty-two  of  these 
spines,  or  sixteen  on  each  side  of  the  body.  Four  of  these 
are  situated  on  the  prothorax,  which  forms  two  anterior 
projections  beyond  the  common  margin;  four  of  them — 
the  two  anterior  ones  longer  than  the  others — are  on  each 
of  the  two  following  thoracic  segments,  and  each  of  the 
abdominal  segments  is  furnished  with  but  two.  There 
are  nine  elevated  spiracles  each  side  superiorly,  namely, 
one  immediately  behind  the  prothorax  and  eight  011  the 
abdominal  segments.  The  fore  part  of  the  body  is  pro- 
jected shield-like  over  the  head,  which  is  retractile  and 
small. 

The  eggs  from  which  these  larvae  hatch,  and  which  we 
do  not  recollect  to  have  seen  anywhere  described,  are  de- 


104  INJUKIOUS   INSECTS 

posited  singly  upon  the  leaves,  to  which  they  are  fastened 
by  some  adhesive  substance.  They  are  of  irregular  angu- 
lar form;  flat,  and  somewhat  narrower  at  one  end  than 
the  other;  ridged  above  and  at  the  sides,  but  smooth  and 
obovate  below.  They  are  usually  furnished  with  spine- 
like  appendages,  which,  however,  are  sometimes  entirely 
lacking.  Those  of  C.  aurichalcea  (fig.  69)  are  0.04  inch 
long,  and  of  a  dull  dirty- white  color. 

When  full  grown  the  larvae  fasten  the  last  two  or  three 
joints  of  the  body  to  the  underside  of  a  leaf,  by  means  of 
a  sticky  secretion,  and  in  about  two 
days  change  to  pupae.  The  pupa  is  also 
flat,  with  usually  four  or  five  broad  but 
thin  and  transparent  serrated  leaf -like 
appendages  on  each  side  of  the  abdo- 
men, and  the  prothorax,  which  is  great- 
ly dilated  and  covers  the  head,  is  fur- 
nished around  the  edge  with  smaller 
barbed  spines.  The  broad  leaf -like 
spines  at  the  edges  of  the  body  are  bent 
Fig.  69.— EGG  or  TOR-  under  while  the  transformation  is  being 
TOISE-BEETLE,  effected,  but  are  soon  afterwards  stretch- 
ed stiffly  out  with  a  forward  slant.  The 
pupa  loses  the  pronged  tail,  but  as  the  old  larval  skin  is 
left  adhering  to  the  terminal  segments  the  prong  of  dung 
still  protects  it  in  most  cases.  The  legs  and  antennas  are 
not  free  in  this,  as  in  the  pupae  of  most  other  beetles,  but 
are  soldered  together  as  in  the  chrysalis  of  a  butterfly,  and 
yet  it  has  the  power  of  raising  itself  up  perpendicularly 
upon  the  tail  end  by  which  it  is  fastened.  The  pupa  state 
lasts  about  a  week. 

Having  thus  spoken  in  general  terms  of  this  anomalous 
group  of  beetles,  we  shall  now  refer  more  particularly  to 
a  few  of  the  species.  Most  of  those  mentioned  below  in- 
fest Sweet-potato  both  in  the  larva  and  perfect  beetle 
states.  They  gnaw  irregular  holes,  and  when  sufficiently 


OF  THE   FARM  AKD   GARDEN.  105 

numerous  entirely  riddle  the  leaves.  They  usually  dwell 
on  the  underside  of  the  leaves,  and  are  found  most 
abundant  during  the  months  of  May  and  June.  There 
must  be  several  broods  during  the  year,  and  the  same 
species  is  often  found  in  all  stages,  and  of  all  sizes  at  one 
and  the  same  time.  In  all  probability  they  hibernate  in 
the  beetle  state. 

We  have  already  proved  by  experiment  that  Paris 
Green — one  part  of  the  Green  to  two  of  flour — when 
sprinkled  under  the  vines,  will  kill  these  insects,  though 
not  so  readily  as  it  does  the  Colorado  Potato-beetle. 
Moreover,  as  these  Tortoise-bottles  usually  hide  on  the 
underside  of  the  leaves,  and  as  the  vines  trail  on  the 
ground,  it  is  very  difficult  to  apply  the  powder  without 
running  some  risk  from  its  poisonous  qualities.  We 
therefore  strongly  recommend  vigilance  when  the  plants 
are  first  planted,  and  by  the  figures  and  descriptions  given 
below  our  readers  will  be  enabled  to  recognize  and  kill 
the  few  beetles  which  at  that  time  make  their  appearance, 
and  thus  nip  the  evil  in  the  bud. 

THE  TWO-STRIPED  SWEET-POTATO  BEETLE. 

(Cassida  bivittata,  Say.) 

This  is  the  most  common  species  found  upon  the 
Sweet-potato,  and  seems  to  be  confined  to  that  plant,  as 
we  have  never  found  it  on  any  other  kind.  The  larva 
of  this  beetle,  which  is  given  in  figure  71,  2,  enlarged,  and 
in  figure  70,  of  natural  size,  is  dirty-white  or  yellowish- 
white,  with  a  more  or  less  intense  neutral-colored  lon- 
gitudinal line  along  the  back,  usually  relieved  by  an 
extra  light  band  each  side.  It  differs  from  the  larvae  of 
all  other  known  species  in  not  using  its  fork  for  merdig- 
erous  purposes.  Indeed,  this  fork  is  rendered  useless  as  a 


106 


INJURIOUS  INSECTS 


shield  to  the  body,  by  being  ever  enveloped,  after  the 
first  moult,  in  the  cast-off  prickly  skins,  which  are  kept 
free  from  excrement.  Moreover,  this  fork  is  seldom  held 
close  down  to  the  back,  as  in  the  other  species,  but  more 
usually  at  an  angle  of  45°  over  or  from  the  body,  thus 
suggesting  the  idea  of  a  handle. 

When  full  fed,  this  larva  attaches  itself  to  the  under- 
side of  the  leaf,  and  in  two  days  the  skin  bursts  open  on 
the  back,  and  is  worked  down  towards  the  tail;  when 
the  pupa,  at  first  pale,  soon  acquires  a  dull  brownish 


Fig.  70. — TWO-STKIPED 
TOBTOISE-BKETLE. 

Larva,  natural  size. 


Fig.  71. — TWO-STRIPED  TORTOISE- 
BEETLE. 
2,  Larva ;  3,  Pupa ;  4,  Beetle. 


color,  the  narrow  whitish  tail,  which  still  adheres  pos- 
teriorly being  significant  of  the  species.  (See  fig.  71, 
3.) 

The  beetle  (fig.  71,  4),  is  of  a  pale  yellow,  striped  with 
black,  and  though  broader  and  vastly  jdrfferent  scientif- 
ically, still  bears  a  general  resemblance  to  the  common 
Striped  Cucumber-beetle  (Diabrotica  vittata,  Fabr.) 

THE  GOLDEN  TORTOISE-BEETLE. 
(Cassida  aurichalcea,  Fabr.) 

Next  to  the  preceding  species,  the  G-olden  Tortoise- 
beetle  is  the  most  numerous  on  our  Sweet-potatoes;  but  it 
does  not  confine  its  injuries  to  that  plant,  for  it  is  found 
in  equal  abundance  on  the  leaves  of  the  Bitter-sweet  and 
on  the  different  kinds  of  Convolvulus  or  Morning  Glory, 


OF  THE   FABM   AND    GARDEN. 


10? 


The  larva  (fig.  72,  a,  natural  size;  Z>,  enlarged  with  the 
dung  taken  from  the  fork),  is  of  a  dark  brown  color, 
with  a  pale  shade  upon  the  back.  It  carries  its  faecifork 
immediately  over  the  back,  and  the  excrement  is  arranged 
in  a  more  or  less  regular  trilobcd  pattern.  The  loaded 
fork  still  lies  close  to  the  back  in  the  pupa,  which  is 
brown  like  the  larva,  and  cluelly  characterized  by  three 
dark  shades  on  the  transparent  prothorax,  one  being  in 
the  middle  and  one  at  each  side,  as  represented  at  fig. 
73,  c. 

The  perfect  beetle  (fig.  73,  d),  when  seen  in  all  its 
splendor,  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful  objects  that  can 


Fig.  72.— LAKVA  OF  GOLDEN  TORTOISE- 
BEETLE, 
a,  Natural  size ;  b,  Enlarged. 


Fig.  73. — GOLDEN  TORTOISE- 
BEETLE, 
c,  Pupa ;  d,  Beetle. 


well  be  imagined.  It  exactly  resembles  a  piece  of  golden 
tinsel,  and  with  its  legs  withdrawn  and  body  lying  fiat  to 
a  leaf,  the  uninitiated  would  scarcely  suppose  it  to  be  an 
insect  did  it  not  suddenly  take  wing  when  being  observed. 
At  first  these  beetles  are  of  a  dull  deep  orange  color, 
which  strongly  relieves  the  transparent  edges  of  the  wing- 
coverts  and  helmet,  and  gives  conspicuousness  to  six 
black  spots,  two  (indicated  in  the  figure)  above,  and  two 
on  each  side.  But  in  about  a  week  after  they  have  left 
the  pupa  shell,  or  as  soon  as  they  begin  to  copulate,  they 
shine  in  all  their  splendor,  and  these  black  spots  are 
scarcely  noticed. 


108 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


THE  PALE-THIGHED  TORTOISE -BEETLE. 
(Cassida  pallida,  Herbst.) 

This  species  can  scarcely  be  distinguished  from  the  pre- 
ceding. It  is  of  a  somewhat  broader,  rounder  form,  and 
differs  in  lacking  the  black  spots  on  the  wing-coverts,  and 
in  having  the  thighs  entirely  pale  yellow,  while  in  auricli- 
alcea  they  are  black  at  the  base.  It  likewise  feeds  upon 
the  Sweet-potato,  and  its  larva  differs  only  from  that  of 
the  former,  in  its  spines  being  brighter  and  lighter  col- 
ored, and  in  having  a  dull  orange  head,  and  a  halo  of  the 
same  color  on  the  anterior  portion  of  the  body. 

THE  MOTTLED  TORTOISE-BEETLE. 
(Cassida  guttata,  Oliv.) 

This  species  (fig.  74),  which  is  the  next  most  com- 
mon of  those  found  on  the  Sweet-potato  in  the  latitude 


Fig.  74.— MOTTLED 
TORTOISE-BEETLE. 


Fig.  75.— MOTTLED  TORTOISE- 
BEETLE,     a,  Larva ;  fc,  Pupa. 


of  St.  Louis,  is  at  once  distinguished  from  all  the  others 
here  described  by  being  usually  black,  with  the  shoulders 
black  to  the  extreme  edge  of  the  transparent  wing-cov- 
erts. It  is  a  very  variable  species,  and  is  frequently  more 
or  less  speckled  or  mottled  with  gold,  while  more  rarely 
it  has  a  uniform  golden  appearance. 

The  larva,  which  is  represented  enlarged  and  with  the 
dung  removed  at  figure  75,  a,  is  of  a  uniform  green  color, 


OF   THE   FARM   AHD   GARDEN. 


109 


with  a  bluish  shade  along  the  back,  which  shade  disap- 
pears however  when  the  insect  has  fasted  for  a  few  hours. 
It  carries  its  excrement  in  irregular  broad  masses,  often 
branching  as  in  the  species  next  to  be  described.  The 
pupa  (fig.  75,  #),  is  also  of  a  uniform  green  color,  with  a 
conspicuous  black  ring  around  the  base  of  the  first  ab- 
dominal pair  of  spiracles.  Before  changing  to  pupa, 
and  previous  to  each  moult,  this  larva  is  in  the  habit  of 
removing  the  excrement  from  its  fork. 

THE    BLACK-LEGGED    TORTOISE-BEETLE. 
(Cassida  nigripes,   Oliv.) 

This  species,  which  is  likewise  found  on  the  Sweet- 
potato,  is  a  little  the  largest  of  those  we  have  mentioned. 


Fig.    76. — BLACK-LEGGED 
TORTOISE  BEETLE. 


Fig. 77. — BLACK-LEGGED  TORTOISE-BEETLE, 
a,  Larva  of  natural  size ;  b,  Magnified. 


The  beetle  (fig.  76)  has  the  power,  when  alive,  of  putting 
on  a  golden  hue,  but  is  not  so  brilliant  as  O.  aurichalcea, 
from  which  species  it  is  at  once  distinguished  by  its  larger 
size,  and  by  its  black  legs  and  three  large  conspicuous 
black  spots  on  each  wing-cover.  The  larva  (fig.  77,  #),  is 
of  a  pale  straw-color,  with  the  spines,  which  are  long,  tip- 
ped with  black;  and  besides  a  dusky  shade  along  each  side 
of  the  back,  it  has  two  dusky  spots  immediately  beneath 
the  head,  and  below  these  last,  two  larger  crescent  marks 
of  the  same  color.  The  excrement  is  spread  in  a  charac- 


110  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

teristic  manner,  extending  laterally  in  long  shreds  or 
ramifications.  (See  fig.  77.)  The  pupa  is  dark  brown, 
variegated  with  paler  brown,  while  the  spines  around  the 
edges  are  transparent  and  white. 


TURNIP  AND  KUTA   BAGA. 

These  root  crops  are  much  more  generally  cultivated  in 
England  than  with  us,  and  English  works  describe  about 
a  dozen  species  that  are  regarded  as  special  enemies  to 
the  Turnip  and  Euta  Baga,  or,  as  the  latter  are  most 
commonly  called,  Swedes.  As  the  cultivation  of  these 
crops  becomes  more  general  in  this  country,  the  num- 
ber of  destructive  insects  will  no  doubt  increase. 

Some  of  those  insects  that  occasionally  appear  in  great 
numbers,  like  the  Fall  Army  Worm,  and  take  nearly 
every  green  plant,  attack  the  Turnip  crop,  though  the 
Rocky  Mountain  Locust,  or  Grasshopper,  as  a  rule, 
avoids  it 

The  Turnips  belong  to  the  same  family  of  plants  as 
the  Cabbage,  and  several  insects  attack  both  indiscrim- 
inately. Indeed,  nearly  all  these  described  under  Cab- 
bage may  be  looked  for  upon  Turnips  (which  includes  the 
Ruta  Baga  or  Swedes).  The  Wavy-striped  Flea-beetle 
(Haltica  stnolata),  which  is  so  destructive  to  young  Cab- 
bage plants,  is  especially  fond  of  Turnips  of  all  kinds  in 
the  young  state,  when  the  seedlings  first  break  ground. 
This  appears  to  be,  in  this  country,  the  counterpart  of  the 
Turnip  Flea-beetle  of  England,  which  is  there  generally 
called  the  "Turnip  Fly,"  and  is,  like  ours,  a  species  of 
Haltica.  If  the  young  seedlings  can  be  protected  until 
they  make  a  few  rough  leaves,  they  will  usually  resist 
these  enemies,  hence  it  has  been  found  useful  to  dust  them 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


Ill 


as  soon  as  they  break  ground  with  some  powder  offen- 
sive to  these  insects.  A  common  application  is  wood 
ashes  and  plaster,  equal  parts,  the  young  plants  to  be 
thoroughly  covered  with  the  mixture.  Air-slaked  shell 
lime  (calcined  oyster-shells)  is  much  used  by  market  gar- 
deners in  the  same  manner,  it  is  also  useful  as  a  fertil- 
izer* Fortunately  the  most  destructive  Saw  Fly  and 
other  enemies  of  this  crop  have  not  yet  made  their  way 
to  this  country,  but  as  in  the  exceptional  season  of  1881- 
82,  large  quantities  of  turnips  were  imported,  it  is  not  at 
all  unlikely  that  some  of  the  British  insects  may  have 
come  with  them. 

In  the  Southern   States,  the  Harlequin  Cabbage-bug 
(see  p.  37)  is  very  destructive  to  the  Turnips. 


UNIVERSITY 


Insects  Injurions  to  the  Cereal  Grains,  and  the 
Grass  Crops,  including  Clover, 


In  classifying  insects  according  to  the  plants  they  in- 
jure, there  is  often  an  over-lapping.  Thus  the  White 
Grub,  while  mentioned  elsewhere,  is  often  one  of  the 
worst  enemies  to  the  grower  of  grass,  whether  in  the 
meadow  or  pasture ;  it  also  attacks  the  grains,  as  do 
several  of  the  Cut-worms.  When  there  is,  as  in  some 
western  localities,  an  invasion  of  the  Rocky  Mountain 
Grasshopper,  scarcely  any  green  thing  escapes  its  attacks. 
We  give  in  this  division,  an  account  of  the  most  com- 
mon enemies  to  the  grain  grower,  and  those  which  at- 
tack grass  lands. 

THE  CHINCH-BUG. 

(Blissus  leucopterus,  Say.) 

NATURAL  HISTORY   OF  THE   CHIKCH-BUG. 

The  food  of  the  Chinch-bug  consists  of  the  grasses  and 
cereals,  wild  and  cultivated,  and  accounts  of  its  injur- 
ing other  plants  are  misleading,  allied  species  being  con- 
founded with  it.  Belonging  to  the  Half -wing  Bugs 
(Heteroptera),  its  food  is  obtained  by  suction,  so  that  the 
plants  attacked  are  sapped  of  their  life,  and  not  eaten  up. 
The  mature  Chinch-bug  (fig.  79)  is  less  then  a  fourth  of 
an  inch  long;  its  appearance  at  different  stages  is  shown 
in  fig.  78,  the  hair  lines  indicating  the  natural  sizes.  The 
eggs  (fig.  78,  a,  #,)  are  amber-colored,  the  young  bugs 
112 


OF  THE  FARM  AED  GARDEN. 


113 


vary  from  pale-yellow  with  a  touch  of  orange  to  bright- 
red,  while  the  pupa  (g,)  is  mostly  brown,  the 
mature  bug  (fig.  79,)  is  black,  with  white  upper  wings, 
having  two  characteristic  black  spots  upon  them.  A 
short-winged  form  (fig.  80,)  occurs  in  Canada,  and  in  the 
more  Northern  States.  The  species  hibernates  in  the 
perfect  or  mature  form  in  a  state  of  torpor  in  whatever 
sheltered  situations  can  be  found. 

The  Chinch-bug  is  two-brooded  in  the  Middle  States, 
and  in  the  more  Southern  States  is  probably  three-brooded. 


Fig.  78. — IMMATURE  STAGES  OF   CHINCH-BUG. 
a,  b,  Eggs ;  c  Newly-hatched  Larvae  ;  /,  Same,  after  first  Moult ;  g,  Pupa. 

Such  as  survive  the  autumn,  when  the  plants  or  the 
sap  on  which  they  feed  are  mostly  dried  up,  so  as  to  afford 
them  little  or  no  nourishment,  pass  the  winter  in  the 
usual  torpid  state,  and  always  in  the  perfect  or  winged 
form,  under  dead  leaves,  under  sticks  of  wood,  under  flat 
stones,  in  moss,  in  bunches  of  old  dead  grass  or  weeds  or 
straw,  and  often  in  corn-stalks  and  corn-shucks.  One 
year  I  repeatedly  received  corn-stalks  that  were  crowded 
with  them,  and  it  was  difficult  to  find  a  stalk  in  any  field 
that  did  not  reveal  some  of  them,  upon  stripping  off  the 
leaves. 

It  has  long  been  known  that  the  Chinch-bug  deposits 
its  eggs  underground  and  upon  the  roots  of  plants  which 
it  infests,  and  that  the  young  larvae  remain  under  ground 


114  INJURIOUS  IKSECTS 

for  some  considerable  time  after  they  hatch  out,  sucking 
the  sap  from  the  roots.  If,  in  the  spring  of  the  year, 
you  pull  up  a  wheat  plant  in  a  field  badly  infested  by  this 
insect,  you  will  find  hundreds  of  the  eggs  attached  to  the 
roots;  and  at  a  somewhat  later  period  the  young  larvae 
may  be  found  clustering  upon  the  roots  and  looking  like 
so  many  moving  little  red  atoms.  The  egg  is  so  small 
as  to  be  scarcely  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  of  an  oval  shape, 
about  four  times  as  long  as  wide,  of  a  pale-amber-white 


•*-  Fig.  80.— SHORT-WINGED 

Fig.  79.— CHINCH-BUG.  CHINCH-BUG. 

color  when  first  laid,  but  subsequently  assuming  a  red- 
dish color  from  the  young  larva  showing  through  the 
transparent  shell.  As  the  mother  Chinch-bug  has  to 
work  her  way  under  ground  in  the  spring  of  the  year,  in 
order  to  get  at  the  roots  upon  which  she  proposes  to  lay 
her  eggs,  it  becomes  evident  at  once,  that  the  looser  the 
soil  is  at  this  time  of  the  year  the  greater  the  facilities 
which  are  offered  for  the  operation.  Hence  the  great  ad- 
vantage of  plowing  land  for  spring  grain  in  the  pre- 
ceding autumn,  or,  if  plowed  in  the  spring,  rolling  it 
repeatedly  with  a  heavy  roller  after  seeding.  And  the  re- 
mark is  frequently  made  by  farmers,  that  wheat  harrowed 
in  upon  old  corn-ground,  without  any  plowing  at  all, 
is  far  less  infested  by  Chinch-bug  than  wheat  put  in  upon 


OF  THE   FARM  AND  GARDEN.  115 

land  that  has  been  plowed.  There  is  another  fact 
which  has  been  repeatedly  noticed  by  practical  men. 
This  insect  cannot  live  and  thrive  and  multiply  in  land 
that  is  sopping  with  water,  and  it  generally  commences 
its  operations  in  early  spring  upon  those  particular  parts 
of  every  field  where  the  soil  is  the  loosest  and  the  driest. 

There  is  nothing  which  experience  has  more  firmly  es- 
tablished in  connection  with  this  pest,  than  that  heavy 
rains  and  wet  seasons  are  destructive  of  it.  I  have  wit- 
nessed the  almost  magical  effect  of  a  heavy  and  pro- 
longed rain  in  a  cornfield  that  was  suffering  badly. 
Warm,  moist,  or  open  winters  are  equally  prejudicial  to  it. 

The  female  occupies  about  three  weeks  in  depositing 
her  eggs,  and,  according  to  Dr.  Shimer's  estimate,  she  de- 
posits about  five  hundred.  The  egg  requires  about  two 
weeks  to  hatch,  and  the  bug  becomes  full  grown  and  ac- 
quires its  wings  in  from  forty  to  fifty  days  after  hatching. 

DESTRUCTIVE   POWERS   OF     THE  CHINCH-BUG. 

Few  persons  in  the  more  Northern  States  can  form  a 
just  conception  of  the  prodigious  numbers  and  redoubt- 
able armies  in  which  this  insect  is  sometimes  seen  in  the 
South  and  South-western  States,  marching  from  one  field 
to  another.  The  following  extracts  from  cotemporane- 
ous  writers  I  have  no  doubt  are  substantially  correct,  and 
give  a  clear  and  graphic  statement  of  the  ravages  of  the 
Chinch-bug: 

There  never  was  a  better  show  for  wheat  and  bar- 
ley than  we  had  here,  the  tenth  of  June,  and  no  more 
paltry  crop  has  been  harvested  since  we  were  a  town. 
Many  farmers  did  not  get  their  seed.  In  passing  by  a 
field  of  barley  where  the  Chinch-bugs  had  been  at  work 
for  a  week,  I  found  them  moving  in  solid  column  across 
the  road  to  a  com  field  on  the  opposite  side,  in  such 


116  INJURIOUS   INSECTS. 

numbers  that  I  felt  afraid  to  ride  my  horse  among  them. 
The  road  and  fences  were  alive  with  them.  Some  teams 
were  at  work  mending  the  road  at  this  spot,  and  the  bugs 
covered  men,  horses  and  scrapers  till  they  were  forced  to 
quit  work  for  the  day.  The  bugs  took  ten  acres  of  that 
corn,  clean  to  the  ground,  before  its  hardening  stalks — 
being  too  much  for  their  tools — checked  their  progress. 
Another  lot  passed  from  a  wheat  field  adjoining  my 
farm  into  a  piece  of  corn,  stopping  now  and  then  for  a 
bite,  but  not  long,  They  then  crossed  a  meadow,  thirty 
rods,  into  a  sixteen-acre  lot  of  sorghum.,  and  swept  it  like 
a  fire,  though  the  cane  was  then  scarce  in  tassel.  From 
wheat  to  sorghum  was  at  least  sixty  rods.  Their  march 
was  governed  by  no  discoverable  law,  except  that  they  were 
hungry,  and  went  where  there  was  most  to  eat.  Help- 
ing a  neighbor  harvest  one  of  the  few  fortunate  fields, 
early  sown — and  so  lucky ! — we  found  them  moving  across 
his  premises  in  such  numbers  that  they  bid  fair  to  drive 
out  the  family.  House,  crib,  stable,  well-curb,  trees, 
garden  fences — one  creeping  mass  of  stinking  life.  In 
the  house  as  well  as  outside,  like  the  lice  of  Egypt,  they 
were  everywhere;  but  in  a  single  day  they  were  gone. 

If  any  Western  farmer  supposes  that  Chinch-bugs  can- 
not be  out-flanked,  headed  off,  and  conquered,  they  are 
entirely  behind  the  times.  The  thing  has  been  effectu- 
ally done  during  the  past  season,  by  Mr.  Davis,  Super- 
visor of  the  town  of  Scott,  Ogle  County,  111.  This  gen- 
tleman had  a  corn-field  of  a  hundred  acres,  growing  along- 
side of  an  extensive  field  of  small  grain.  The  bugs  had 
finished  up  the  latter  and  were  preparing  to  attack  the 
former,  when  the  owner,  being  of  an  ingenious  turn,  hit 
upon  a  happy  plan  for  circumventing  them.  He  sur- 
rounded the  corn  with  a  barrier  of  pine  boards  set  up 
edgewise  and  partly  buried  in  the  ground,  to  keep  them 
in  position.  Outside  of  this  fence  deep  holes  were  dug, 
about  ten  feet  apart.  The  upper  edge  of  the  board  was 


OF  THE  FARM  AND  GARDEN.  117 

kept  constantly  moist  with  a  coat  of  coal  tar,  which  was 
renewed  every  day. 

The  bugs  according  to  their  regular  tactics,  advanced 
to  the  assault  in  solid  columns,  swarming  by  million's, 
and  hiding  the  ground.  They  easily  ascended  the  boards, 
but  were  unable  to  cross  the  belt  of  the  coal  tar,,  Some- 
times they  crowded  upon  one  another  so  as  to  bridge 
over  the  barrier,  but  such  places  were  immediately  cov- 
ered with  a  new  coating.  The  invaders  were  in  a  quan- 
dary, and,  in  that  state  of  mind  crept  backward  and  for- 
ward until  they  tumbled  into  the  deep  holes  aforesaid, 
these  were  soon  filled,  and  the  swarming  myriads  were 
shovelled  out  of  them  literally  by  wagon  loads,  at  the  rate 
of  thirty  or  forty  bushels  a  day, — and  buried  up  in  other 
holes,  dug  for  the  purpose,  as  required.  This  may  seem 
incredible  to  persons  unacquainted  with  this  little  pest, 
but  no  one  who  has  seen  the  countless  myriads  which 
cover  the  earth  as  harvest  approaches,  will  feel  inclined 
to  dispute  the  statement.  It  is  an  unimpeachable  fact. 
The  process  was  repeated  till  only  three  or  four  bushels 
could  be  shovelled  out  of  the  holes,  when  it  was  aban- 
doned. The  corn  was  completely  protected  and  yielded 
bountifully. 

FALSE  CHINCH-BUGS. — Some  insects,  with  a  general 
resemblance  to  the  true  Chinch-bug,  are  sometimes  mis- 
taken for  that,  and  as  they  are  general  feeders,  have 
given  rise  to  reports  that  garden  crops  and  others  besides 
the  grains  and  grasses,  are  attacked  by  the  Chinch-bug. 
The  most  frequently  mistaken  for  the  true  one  is  the 
False  Chinch-bug  (Nysius  destructor,  Riley),  fig.  81,  of 
which  I  is  the  pupa,  and  c  the  mature  insect,  the  lines 
showing  the  real  size.  Its  general  color  is  grayish- 
brown,  and  that  of  the  pupa  dingy  yellow.  The  insect 
is  common  in  Missouri  and  Kansas.  It  attacks  many 
garden  vegetables,  especially  those  of  the  Mustard  Fam- 


118 


INJURIOUS  INSECTS 


ily   (Cruciferce),   also  the   Grape-Tine   and    Strawberry 
plants,  to  which  it  is  especially  injurious.     The  insect  is 


Fig.  81.— FALSE  CHINCH-BUG  (Ny- 

siw  destructor,  Riley). 


Fig.  82.— ASH-GRAY 

LEAF-BUG  (Plesma 

cinerea,  Say.) 


described  in  full  in  Eiley's  Third  Missouri  Keport.  The 
Ash-gray  Leaf-bug  (Piesma  cinerea),  fig.  82,  is  often 
found  feeding  on  the  same  plants  as  the  Chinch-bug,  and 
might  be  mistaken  for  that  by  a  careless  observer;  a  com- 
parison of  the  engravings  will  at  once  show  the  difference. 


Fig.  83. 

INSIDIOUS  FLOWER-BUG  ( An- 

thocoris  insidiosus,  Say.) 


a          •»       b 

Fig.  84.— MANY-BANDED   ROBBER 

(Harpactor  cinclus,  Fabr.) 


NATURAL  ENEMIES.— The  Chinch -bug  appears  to  have 
fewer  insect  enemies  than  other  destructive  insects,  and 


OP  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  119 

this  is  supposed  to  be  due  to  its  disagreeable  odor.  The 
Insidious  Flower-bug  (Anthocoris  insidiosus,  Say),  fig. 
83,  and  the  Many-banded  Robber  (Harpactor  cinctus, 
Fabr.),  fig.  84,  are  the  most  prominent  of  these,  and  may 
be  recognized  from  the  engravings.  The  larvae  of  some  of 
the  Lady-birds,  and  a  few  others,  also  prey  upon  them 
more  or  less,  but  the  most  efficient  of  all  are  the  ants, 
which  destroy  large  numbers  of  the  eggs. 

REMEDIES — It  has  long  been  noticed  that  the  Chinch 
Bug  commences  its  ravages  from  the  edges  of  a  piece  of 
grain,  or  occasionally  from  one  or  more  small  patches, 
scattered  at  random  in  the  more  central  portions  of  it, 
and  usually  drier  than  the  rest  of  the  field.  From  these 
particular  parts  it  subsequently  spreads  by  degrees  over 
the  whole  field,  multiplying  as  ifc  goes,  and  finally  taking 
the  entire  crop  unless  checked  up  by  seasonable  rains. 
In  newly  broken  land,  where  the  fences  are  new  and  con- 
sequently no  old  stuff  has  had  time  to  accumulate  along 
them,  the  Chinch-bug  is  never  heard  of.  These  facts  in- 
dicate that  the  mother  insects  must  very  generally  pass 
the  winter  in  the  old  dead  stuff  that  usually  gathers 
along  fences.  Hence  by  way  of  precaution,  it  is  advisa- 
ble, whenever  possible,  to  burn  up  such  dead  stuff  in  the 
winter  or  early  in  the  spring,  and  particularly  to  rake  to- 
gether and  burn  up  the  old  corn-stalks,  instead  of  plow- 
ing them  in,  or  allowing  them,  as  is  often  done,  to  lie 
littering  about  on  some  waste  ground.  It  is  true,  agri- 
culturally speaking,  this  is  bad  farming;  but  it  is  better 
to  lose  the  manure  contained  in  the  cornstalks  than  to 
have  one's  crops  destroyed  by  insects.  Whenever  such 
small  infested  patches  in  a  grain  field  are  noticed  early 
in  the  season,  the  rest  of  the  field  may  often  be  saved  by 
carting  dry  straw  on  to  them  and  burning  the  straw  on 
the  spot,  Chinch-bugs,  green  wheat  and  all;  and  this 
will  be  still  easier  to  do  when  the  bugs  start  along  the 
edge  of  the  field.  If,  as  frequently  happens,  a  piece  of 


120  IHJTJRIOUS   INSECTS 

small  grain''  is  found  about  harvest-time  to  be  so  badly 
shrunken  up  by  the  bug  as  not  to  be  worth  cutting,  the 
owner  ought  always  to  set  fire  to  it  and  burn  it  up  along 
with  its  ill-savored  inhabitants.  Thus,  not  only  will 
the  insect  be  prevented  from  migrating  to  the  adjacent 
corn-fields,  but  its  future  multiplication  will  be  consid- 
erably checked. 

A  very  simple,  cheap,  and  easy  method  of  prevention 
was  recommended  by  Mr.  Wilson  Phelps,  of  Crete,  Illi- 
nois. It  may  very  probably  be  effectual  when  the  bugs 
are  not  too  numerous,  and  certainly  can  do  no  harm: 

With  twelve  bushels  of  spring  wheat,  mix  one  bushel 
of  winter  rye,  and  sow  in  the  usual  manner.  The  rye  not 
heading  out,  but  spreading  out  close  to  the  ground,  the 
bugs  will  content  themselves  with  eating  it  until  the 
wheat  is  too  far  advanced  to  be  injured  by  them.  There 
will  of  course  be  no  danger  of  the  winter  rye  mixing  with 
the  spring  wheat. 

THE  HESSIAN  FLY. 

(Cecidomyia  destructor,  Say.) 

A  most  complete  account  of  this  insect  is  to  be  found 
in  Bulletin  No.  4,  of  the  U.  S.  Entomological  Commis- 
sion, by  Prof.  A.  S.  Packard,  of  which  the  following  is 
a  brief  abstract : 

1.  There  are  two  broods  of  the  fly,  the  first  laying  their 
eggs  on  the  leaves  of  the  young  wheat  from  early  April 
till  the  end  of  May,  the  time  varying  with  the  latitude 
and  weather;  the  second  brood  appearing  during  August 
and  September,  and  laying  about  thirty  eggs  on  the  leaves 
of  the  young  winter  wheat. 

2.  The  eggs  hatch  in  about  four  days  after  they  are 
laid;  several  of  the  maggots  or  larvas  make  their  way 
down  to  the  sheathing  base  of  the  leaf  and  remain  be- 
tween the  base  of  the  leaves  and  the  stem,  near  the  roots, 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEK.\ 

causing  the  stalks  to  swell  and  the  plant  to  fi^^yj&y*^ 
and  die.  By  the  end  of  November,  or  from  thirty^  to 
forty  days  after  the  wheat  is  sown,  they  assume  the  "  flax- 
seed  "  state,  and  may,  on  removing  the  lower  leaves,  be 
found  as  little  brown,  oval,  cylindrical,  smooth  bodies,  a 
little  smaller  than  grains  of  rice.  They  remain  in  the 
wheat  until  during  warm  weather  in  April,  when  the  ' 
larva  rapidly  transforms  into  the  pupa  within  its  flax- 
seed-skin,  the  fly  emerging  from  the  "  flaxseed"  case  about 


Fig.  85. — THE  HESSIA.N  FLY  (Cecidomyia  destructor,  Say.) 

i.  Fly  of  natural  size;  h,  the  same,  magnified;  j,  k,  Maggots,  magnified'.   I,  the 
"  flaxseed  "  state,  enlarged. 

the  end  of  April.  The  eggs  laid  by  this  first  or  spring 
brood  of  flies,  soon  hatch;  the  second  brood  of  maggots  live 
but  a  few  weeks;  the  "flaxseed"  state  is  soon  undergone 
and  the  autumn  or  second  brood  of  flies  appear  in  August. 
(In  some  cases  there  may  be  two  autumn  broods,  the 
earliest  autumn  brood  giving  rise  to  a  third  set  of  flies  in 
September.)  The  engraving  (fig.  85),  shows  the  differ- 
ent states  of  the  insect.  The  fly  of  the  natural  size  is 
given  at  *',  its  spread  of  wings  being  only  half  an  inch. 
6 


122  IKJUKIOUS   INSECTS 

At  h  is  the  magnified  insect.  The  body  is  of  a  dark- 
brown  color,  the  wings  dull  smoky-brown,  and  the  legs 
of  a  paler  brown  than  the  body.  The  maggots  are  shown, 
magnified  in/  and  k;  I  shows  the  "flaxseed"  state. 

3.  There  are  several  destructive  Ichneumon  parasites 
of  the  Hessian  Fly,  whose  combined  attacks  are  supposed 
to  destroy  nine-tenths  of  all  the  flies  hatched;  of  these  the 
most  important  is  the  Chalcid  four-winged  fly  (Semiotel- 
lus  destructor},  which  infests  the  "flaxseed";  and  the 
egg-parasite  (Platygaster). 

4.  By  sowing  a  part  of  the  wheat  early,  and  if  affected 
by  the  fly,  plowing  and  sowing  the  rest  after  September 
20th,  the  wheat  crop  may  in  most  cases  be  saved.     It 
should  be  remembered  that  the  first  brood  should  be 
thus  circumvented  or  destroyed  in  order  that  a  second 
brood  may  not  appear. 

5.  If  the  wheat  be  only  partially  affected  it  may  be 
saved  by  fertilizers  and  careful  cultivation;  or  a  badly 
damaged  field  of  winter  wheat  may  thus  be  recuperated 
in  the  spring. 

6.  Pasturing  with  sheep  and  consequent  close  cropping 
of  the  winter  wheat  in  November  and  early  December  may 
cause  many  of  the  eggs,  larvae  and  flaxseeds  to  be  destroyed; 
also,  rolling  the  ground  may  have  nearly  the  same  effect. 

7.  Sowing  hardy  varieties.     The  "Underbill  Mediter- 
ranean "  wheat,  and  especially  the  "  Clawson "  variety, 
which  tillers  vigorously,  should  be  sown  in  preference 
to  the  slighter,  less  vigorous  kinds,  in  a  region  much 
infested    by  the   fly.      The  early  August   sown   wheat 
might  be  "Diehl,"  the  late  sown  "  Clawson." 

8.  Of  special  remedies,  the  use  of  lime,  soot,  or  salt, 
may  be  recommended;  also  raking  off  the  stubble;  but 
too  close  cutting  of  the  wheat  and  burning  of  the  stub- 
ble are  of  doubtful  use,  as  this  destroys  the  useful  para- 
sites as  well  as  the  flies. 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  32 

PROBABLE   GEOGRAPHICAL  LIMITS   OF  THE  HESSIAN  FLY. 

The  question  naturally  arises  whether  this  pest  will 
ever  infest  the  wheat  regions  of  Western  Dakota,  Mon- 
tana, Utah,  Colorado,  and  the  Pacific  States  and  Terri- 
tories. We  believe  not,  though  aware  that  such  a  state- 
ment may  be  hazardous.  It  was  originally  an  inhabitant 
of  Central  and  Southern  Europe;  it  has  become  acclima- 
ted in  the  Eastern,  Atlantic,  and  Middle  States,  in  the 
Valley  of  the  Upper  St.  Lawrence  and  in  the  Valley  of  the 
Mississippi  River;  that  it  can  thrive  in  the  elevated,  dry 
Rocky  Mountain  plateau  regions,  withstand  the  cool 
nights  and  dry,  hot  atmosphere  of  the  Far  West,  seems 
very  doubtful.  At  least  so  slowly  has  it  spread  westward ; 
so  slight  an  amount  of  wheat  or  straw  is  transported,  all 
produce  of  this  kind  going  eastward,  that  we  doubt 
whether  during  this  century  at  least  it  will  extend  west 
of  Kansas  and  Minnesota,  where  it  has  already  had  a 
foothold  for  several  years. 

Bulletin  No.  4  of  the  Entomological  Commission,  by 
Dr.  A.  S.  Packard,  Jr.,  gives  a  full  account  of  the  Hes- 
sian Fly,  which  all  interested  should  be  able  to  procure 
from  their  representatives  in  Congress,  as  these  Bulletins 
are  published  at  the  expense  of  the  tax-payers. 

THE  WHEAT  MIDGE. 
(Diplosis  tritiei,  Kirby.) 

The  Wheat  Midge  was  formerly  regarded  as  an  insect 
of  the  same  genus  with  the  Hessian  Fly,  and  was  known 
as  Cecidomyia  tritici,  but  Entomologists  now  rank  it  in 
a  separate  genus,  Diplosis.  In  general  appearance  the 
parent  insect  much  resembles  the  Hessian  Fly,  but  it  de- 
posits its  eggs  in  the  flowers  of  the  wheat.  The  heads 
of  wheat  thus  attacked  are  soon  seen  to  shrivel,  and  upon 
examination  there  will  be  found  numerous  legless  mag- 


124  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

gots,  about  one-twelfth  of  an  inch  long,  and  of  an  orange 
color,  among  the  forming  grain,  which  are  popularly 
known  as  midges,  a  portion  of  the  Iarva3  or  midges  go 
into  the  ground  and  pupate,  while  others  are  harvested 
with  the  grain.  Some  parasitic  insects  help  reduce  the 
numbers  of  the  midge,  and  so  far  as  is  known,  deep 
plowing,  to  turn  those  which  have  entered  the  ground 
so  deep  that  they  cannot  make  their  way  to  the  surface, 
and  the  burning  of  the  refuse  in  the  cleaning  of  the  grain, 
are  the  only  artificial  helps  suggested. 

THE  JOINT-WORM. 
(Isosoma  hordei,  Harris.) 

In  certain  years  and  in  particular  States  the  crops  of 
wheat,  of  barley,  or  of  rye  are  greatly  injured  by  a  minute 
maggot,  popularly  known  as  the  "Joint-worm."  This 
maggot  is  but  little  more  than  one-eighth  of  an  inch 
long,  and  of  a  pale-yellow  color  with  the  exception  of  the 
jaws,  which  are  dark-brown.  It  inhabits  a  little  cell, 
which  is  situated  in  the  internal  substance  of  the  stem  of 
the  affected  plant,  usually  a  short  distance  above  the  first 
or  second  knot  from  the  root,  the  outer  surface  of  the 
stem  being  elevated  in  a  corresponding  elongate  blister- 
like  swelling;  and  when,  as  is  generally  the  case,  from 
three  to  ten  of  these  cells  lie  close  together  in  the  same 
spot,  the  whole  forms  a  woody  enlargement,  honey-combed 
by  cells,  and  is  in  reality  a  many-celled  gall.  In  figure 
86,  a,  will  be  seen  a  sketch  of  one  of  these  galls,  the  lit- 
tle pin-holes  being  the  orifices  through  which  the  flies 
produced  from  the  joint- worms  have  escaped.  At  first 
sight,  these  knotty  swellings  of  the  stem  are  apt  to  elude 
observation,  because,  being  almost  always  situated  just 
above  the  joint  or  knot  on  that  stem — whence  comes  the 
popular  name  "Joint-worms" — they  are  enwrapped  and 
hidden  by  the  sheath  of  the  blade;  but  on  stripping  off 


OF  THE   FAKM   AND   GARDEN.  125 

the  sheath,  as  is  supposed  to  have  been  done  in  the  en- 
graving, they  become  at  once  very  conspicuous  objects. 
We  have  observed  that  the  "infcernodes,"  as  botanists 
call  them,  or  the  spaces  between  the  knots,  in  infested 
straws  are  always  much  contracted  in  length,  none  out  of 
a  lot  of  over  fifty  specimens  examined  by  us  exceeding 
six  niches  in  length,  and  many  being  reduced  to  only  one 
and  a  half  inch.  There  were  only  three  straws  in  this 
lot  of  over  fifty  straws,  where  two  Joint- worm  galls  were 


Fig.  86. — THE  JOINT-WORM  (Isosoma  hordei,  Harris), 
a,  Galls  at  joints ;  ft,  Female  Fly,  enlarged,  the  lines  showing  the  real  size. 

found  in  the  same  straw;  and  in  all  those  three  cases 
they  were  found  in  two  adjoining  internodes.  In  a  very 
few  instances  the  galls  were  situated  in  the  middle  of  the 
internode,  or  even  close  to  the  upper  knot,  instead  of  be- 
ing situated  as  usual  above  the  lower  knot. 


AMOUNT   OF   DAMAGE   DONE   BY  THE   JOINT-WOKM. 

The  damage  occasioned  by  the  Joint-worm  is,  in  cer- 
tain seasons  and  in  certain  localities,  ruinously  great. 
In  the  year  1851,  through  a  large  part  of  Virginia,  ac- 
cording to  the  Editor  of  the  "Southern  Planter," 


126  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

"many  crops  of  wheat  were  hardly  worth  cutting  on  ac- 
count of  its  attacks,  and  all  that  we  have  seen  or  heard 
of,  except  one,  were  badly  hurt  by  it."  It  first  began  to 
be  observed  in  that  State  in  1848,  and  in  subsequent 
years  it  increased  gradually  in  numbers.  According  to 
Prof.  Cabell,  of  the  University  of  Virginia,  the  loss  occa- 
sioned by  this  insect  often  amounted  to  one-third  of  the 
.average  crop,  and  sometimes  much  greater;  and  in  1851 
"some  farmers  did  not  reap  as  much  as  they  sowed." 
In  1860  the  rye  crop  was  considerably  injured  by  this 
little  pest  in  Lycoming  Co.,  Pennsylvania;  and  according 
to  Mr.  Norton,  the  species  is  very  common  upon  rye  "in 
Connecticut  and  probably  the  other  New  England  States." 
As  long  ago  as  1829,  it  had  been  noticed  in  various  parts 
of  the  New  England  States  to  attack  the  barley,  causing 
it  in  some  places  "to  yield  only  a  very  small  crop,  and 
on  some  farms  not  much  more  than  the  seed  sown;" 
although  since  that  date  it  does  not  appear  to  have  been 
materially  troublesome  in  that  region.  But  in  Central 
New  York,  formerly  the  great  barley-growing  district  of 
America,  it  has  been  ruinously  destructive  to  the  barley 
from  1850  until  the  present. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that — so  far  as  can  be  at  present 
ascertained — this  destructive  insect  does  not  appear  to 
have  reached  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  At  all  events, 
no  complaints  from  the  West  of  any  such  attacks  as  those 
described  above,  either  upon  wheat,  rye,  or  barley,  have 
hitherto  been  make  public.  It  is  very  possible,  however, 
that  the  Joint-worm  may  have  been  confounded  in  the 
West  with  the  Hessian  Fly  (Cecidomyia  destructor,  Say), 
the  larva  of  which  infests  the  same  part  of  the  wheat 
plant,  namely,  the  space  immediately  above  one  of  the 
lowermost  knots  in  the  straw.  But  this  last  may  be  dis- 
tinguished from  the  Joint-worm  by  living  in  the  open 
space  between  the  stem  and  the  sheath  of  the  blade, 
although  it  occasionally  imbeds  itself  pretty  deeply  in  the 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 

external  surface  of  the  stem;  whereas,  the  true  Joint- 
worm  always  inhabits  a  smooth  egg-shaped  cell  in  the  in- 
ternal  substance  of  that  stem. 

NATURAL  HISTORY   OF  THE   JOINT-WORM. 

The  mode  in  which  the  Joint-worm  produces  its  de- 
structive effects  upon  small  grain,  may  be  readily  ex- 
plained. Not  only  is  the  sap  extracted  on  its  course  to 
the  ear,  in  order  to  form  the  abnormal  woody  enlargement 
or  gall,  in  which  the  larvae  are  imbedded,  each  in  his 
own  private  and  peculiar  cell,  but  a  very  large  supply  of 
sap  must  be  wasted  in  feeding  the  larvae  themeslves. 
Hence  the  ear  that  would  otherwise  be  fully  developed 
becomes  more  or  less  shriveled;  although  we  are  told 
that,  in  the  case  of  barley  more  particularly,  the  plant 
tillers  out  laterally,  so  as  partially  to  supply  the  loss  of 
the  main  crop  of  ears.  A  similar  phenomenon  occurs 
with  almost  all  galls  that  grow  upon  a  slender  stem  or 
twig,  that  is,  the  stem  or  twig  is  more  or  less  killed  or 
blasted  thereby;  but  when  a  twig  is  quite  large,  this  re- 
sult often  fails  to  be  developed. 

The  Joint-worm.  Fly  (fig.  86,  #,)  makes  its  appear- 
ance in  the  North  in  the  forepart  and  middle  of  June, 
and  in  southern  latitudes  in  the  middle  of  May.  After 
coupling  in  the  usual  manner,  the  female  Joint-worm  Fly 
proceeds  to  lay  her  eggs  in  the  stems  of  the  growing  grain. 
The  following  excellent  account  of  this  operation,  from 
the  pen  of  Mr.  Petti t,  is  from  the  "  Canada  Farmer": 

" About  the  eighth  of  June,  the  perfect  insects  begin 
to  make  their  way  out  of  the  galls.  ****** 
I  watched  the  growing  barley,  and  on  the  tenth  found 
them  actively  at  work  ovipositing  in  the  then  healthy 
stalks  of  the  plant.  Before  commencing  operations 
they  walk  leisurely  up  one  side  of  the  plant  as  far  as 
the  last  leaf,  and  then  down  the  other,  apparently  to 


128  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

make  sure  that  it  has  not  already  been  oviposited  in. 
Head  downward,  they  then  begin  by  bending  the  abdo- 
men downward,  and  placing  the  tip  of  the  ovipositor  on 
the  straw  at  right  angles  with  the  body,  when  the  abdo- 
men resumes  its  natural  position,  and  the  ovipositor  is 
gradually  worked  into  the  plant  to  its  full  extent. 
With  the  aid  of  a  good  lens,  and  by  pulling  up  the  plants 
on  which  they  were  at  work  (which  did  not  appear  to 
disconcert  them  in  the  least),  I  could  view  the  whole  op- 
eration, which,  in  some  cases,  was  accomplished  in  a  few 
minutes,  and  in  others  was  the  work  of  an  hour  or  two. 
When  a  puncture  was  completed,  they  usually  backed  up 
a  little  and  viewed  it  for  a  few  seconds,  and  then  appar- 
ently satisfied,  moved  to  one  side  and  another  began." 

Very  shortly  after  this  time,  the  egg  must  hatch  out. 
For,  upon  July  third,  we  examined  a  large  lot  of  the 
green  barley-galls,  which  had  been  obligingly  forwarded 
to  us  by  Mr.  Pettit,  and  found  the  larva  of  the  Joint- 
worm  Fly  almost  half -grown,  that  is  from  0. 004  to  0. 006- 
inch  long,  and  about  five  times  as  long  as  wide. 

By  the  beginning  of  September,  the  infested  grain 
having  ripened  long  before  this  period,  the  galls  are 
already  dry  and  hard,  and  the  larvae  contained  in  them 
full  grown,  measuring  now  about  0.13-inch  in  length. 
The  great  majority  of  these  larvae  are  destined  to  remain 
in  that  state,  enclosed  in  their  little  cells,  until  the  suc- 
ceeding spring;  but — as  happens  with  many  different  in- 
sects—  a  small  percentage  of  them  seem  to  pass  into  the 
pupa,  and  thence  into  the  perfect  state,  the  same  sum- 
mer that  the  eggs  are  deposited.  For,  out  of  a  lot  of 
one  hundred  and  twenty-four  barley-galls,  received  Sep- 
tember 10th  from  Mr.  Pettit  of  Upper  Canada,  thirty- 
nine  galls,  on  very  nearly  one-third  part,  were  already 
bored  with  the  same  kind  of  small  round  holes  as  are 
made  in  the  succeeding  spring  by  the  escaping  Joint- 
worm  Flies,  some  galls  containing  six  such  holes,  but 


OF  THE   FAEM   AND   GARDEN.  129 

inost  of  them  about  three.  It  is  true  that  we  are  not 
personally  cognizant  of  the  fact,  that  these  holes  are 
bored  by  the  same  Joint- worm  Fly,  that  escapes  from 
similar  holes  in  such  profuse  abundance  in  the  following 
June;  but  Prof.  Oabell,  of  Virginia,  stated  to  Dr.  Harris 
with  reference  to  the  wheat-inhabiting  Joint-worm,  that 
he  had  known  a  few  flies  to  leave  the  straw  the  first  year, 
but  in  each  instance  the  fly  which  came  forth  thus  was 
the  true  Joint- worm  Fly.  As  already  shown,  the  flies 
that  emerged  from  these  Canada  galls  in  the  succeeding 
summer,  came  out  from  June  9th  to  June  16th  and  sub- 
sequently.— (American  Entomologist. ) 

ARMY   WORMS. 

The  name  Army  Worm  is  somewhat  loosely  applied  to 
several  different  insects  that  have  the  habit  of  congregat- 
ing in  considerable  numbers,  or  in  moving  from  place  to 
place  in  large  bodies.  In  some  localities  in  Western 
New  York,  the  name  is  given  to  the  Tent  Caterpillar  of 
the  Forest  (Clisiocampa  sylvatica,  Harr.),  described 
under  FRUIT  TREES. 

In  some  of  the  Southern  States,  the  Cotton  Worm 
(Aletia  argillacea,  Hubn.),  is  called  "  Army  Worm,"  and 
more  frequently  the  "  Cotton  Army  Worm,"  an  insect 
most  exhaustively  treated  of  by  Prof.  Riley  in  Bulletin 
No.  3,  of  the  U.  S.  Entomological  Commission. 

Still  another  insect,  common  in  the  Southern  States, 
(LapJirygma  frugiperda,  Sm.  and  Abb.),  which  some- 
times attacks  cotton,  has  been  called  "  Army  Worm." 
Its  proper  name  is  "  Southern  Grass  Worm,"  and  it  pre- 
fers grasses  and  weeds  to  cotton  and  other  crops.  To 
distinguish  the  true  Army  Worm  from  all  others  to  which 
the  name  has  been  given,  it  may  be  called: 


130  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

THE    NORTHERN    ARMY    WORM. 
(Leucania  unipuncta,  Haw.) 

This  insect  has  from  time  to  time  made  its  appearance 
in  destructive  numbers.  Its  earliest  recorded  appearance 
in  the  Eastern  States,  was  in  1743.  The  years  1770, 
1817,  and  1861,  are  those  in  which  it  is  reported  to  have 
been  especially  troublesome  in  the  East;  in  1861  it  was 
destructive  from  New  England  to  Kansas;  in  1875,  it 
visited  a  large  part  of  Missouri,  and  in  1880  was  especially 
destructive  on  Long  Island.  Prof.  C.  V.  Eiley  was  the 
first  to  give  the  full  history  of  this  insect,  in  his  Eeports 
on  the  Insects  of  Missouri,  and  in  the  Walker  Prize 
Essay  of  the  Boston  Natural  History  Society,  for  1877; 
from  these  the  following  is  condensed. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  INSECT. 

The  worm  when  full  grown  is  dingy  black  in  color, 
striped  as  in  figure  87,  with  a  broad  dusky  stripe  along 
the  back,  divided  along  the  middle  by  a  more  or  less  dis- 
tinct and  irregular  pale  line,  and  bordered  beneath  by  a 
narrow  black  line;  then  a  narrow  white  line;  then  a  yel- 
lowish stripe;  then  a  narrow,  indistinct  white  line;  then 
another  dusky  stripe;  again  a  narrow  white  line;  then  a 
yellow  stripe,  and,  finally,  again  a  faint  white  line:  the 
underside  or  venter  is  obscure  green. 

The  chrysalis  (fig.  88)  is  mahogany-brown  in  color. 
The  moth  (fig.  89)  is  of  a  fawn  color,  with  a  white  speck 
near  the  center  of  the  front  wings  and  a  dusky,  oblique 
line  running  inwardly  from  their  tips. 

The  eggs  are  laid  in  the  spring  of  the  year  so  far  as  we 
know,  and  not  in  the  fall  as  was  formerly  supposed. 
They  are  thrust,  by  means  of  an  ovipositor,  which  is 
admirably  adapted  for  this  purpose,  in  between  the  folded 


OF  THE  FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


131 


sides  of  a  grass  blade  and  glued  along  the  grooves  with  a 
white,  glistening,  and  adhesive  fluid,  which  not  only 
fastens  them  together  but  draws  the  two  sides  of  the 
grass  blade  close  around  them  so  as  to  pretty 
effectually  hide  them.  The  female  performs  this  opera- 
tion at  night,  and  is  extremely  active  at  the  time,  laying 
her  eggs  with  great  rapidity,  so  that  the  ovaries  are  soon 
emptied.  Each  individual  egg  is  glistening  white  at 
first,  but  becomes  dull  yellowish  toward  maturity.  The 
female  prefers  a  dry  blade  to  a  green  one,  and  is  espe- 


Fig.  88.— CHRYSALIS. 


Fig.  87.— ARMY   WORM. 


Fig.   89.— MOTH  OF  ARMY  WORM. 


cially  prone  to  oviposit  in  places  where  there  is  a 
thick  matting  of  coarse,  last  year's  grass.  The  young 
worm  hatches  in  about  ten  days,  and  up  to  the  last 
moult  has  all  the  habits  of  an  ordinary  Cut- Worm, 
the  colors  being  much  paler  than  when  full  grown,  and 
the  worm  hiding  during  the  day  at  the  base  of  the  grasses. 
When  not  excessively  numerous  they  retain  this  their 
normal  Cut- Worm  habit,  and  only  when  they  become 
excessively  multiplied  do  they  acquire  the  marching  and 
migrating  habits. 

EEMEDIES. — Experience  has  established  the  fact  that 
burning  a  meadow,  or  prairie,  or  field  of  stubble,  in  winter 


132  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

or  spring,  usually  prevents  the  worms  from  originating 
in  such  meadow  or  field.  Such  burning  destroys  the 
previous  year's  stalks  and  blades,  and,  as  a  consequence  of 
what  we  have  already  stated,  the  nidi  which  the  female 
moth  prefers.  Burning  as  a  preventive,  however,  loses 
much  of  its  practical  importance  unless  it  is  pursued 
annually,  because  of  the  irregularity  in  the  appearance  of 
the  Worm  in  injurious  numbers.  Judicious  ditching, 
i.  e.,  a  ditch  with  the  side  toward  the  field  to  be  protected 
perpendicular  or  sloping  under,  will  protect  a  field  from 
invasion  from  some  other  infested  region  when  the  worms 
are  marching.  When  they  are  collected  in  the  ditch 
they  may  be  destroyed  either  by  covering  them  with 
earth  that  is  pressed  upon  them,  by  burning  straw  over 
them  or  by  pouring  a  little  coal  oil  in  the  ditch.  A 
single  plow  furrow,  six  or  eight  inches  deep  and  kept 
friable  by  dragging  brush  in  it,  has  also  been  known  to 
head  them  off. 

From  experiments  which  we  have  made  we  are  satisfied 
that  where  fence-lumber  can  be  easily  obtained  it  may  be 
used  to  advantage  as  a  substitute  for  the  ditch  or  trench, 
by  being  secured  on  edge  and  then  smeared  with  kerosene 
or  coal  tar,  the  latter  being  more  particularly  useful 
along  the  upper  edge.  By  means  of  laths  and  a  few 
nails  the  boards  may  be  so  secured  that  they  will  slightly 
slope  away  from  the  field  to  be  protected.  Such  a 
barrier  will  prove  effectual  where  the  worms  are  not  too 
persistent  or  numerous.  Where  they  are  excessively 
abundant  they  will  need  to  be  watched  and  occasionally 
dosed  with  kerosene  to  prevent  their  piling  up  even  with 
the  top  of  the  board  and  thus  bridging  the  barrier.  The 
lumber  is  not  injured  for  other  purposes  subsequently. 
In  the  invasion  of  Long  Island  in  1880,  but  two  methods 
were  found  successful  in  checking  the  march  of  the  Army 
Worm.  Trenches  were  made  by  plowing,  and  in  these  were 
distributed  freshly  cut  Red-top  grass,  a  favorite  food  with 


OE   THE   EARM   AND    GARDEN.  133 

them,  and  the  grass  was  sprinkled  with  a  mixture  of 
Paris  Green  or  London  Purple  in  water,  the  same  that  is 
used  for  the  Colorado  Potato-beetle.  So  long  as  the 
grass  remained  fresh,  the  worms  were  destroyed  by 
millions.  Trenches  by  themselves  were  of  little  use,  but 
if  pits  are  made  at  every  rod  or  so  in  the  trench,  about  a 
foot  square,  and  two  feet  deep  with  clean  straight  sides, 
the  worms,  in  seeking  a  place  to  escape  from  the  trench, 
will  fall  into  these  pits  in  great  numbers.  When  one 
pit  is  nearly  full  of  worms,  others  may  be  dug,  using 
the  earth  to  bury  those  already  in  the  pits.  The  trenches 
should  be  dressed  with  the  spade,  after  the  plow,  to 
make  sure  of  straight  smooth  sides. 

SUMMARY. 

The  following  summary  of  the  natural  history  of  the 
Worm  is  from  the  9th  Missouri  Eeport: 

"  The  insect  is  with  us  every  year.  In  ordinary  sea- 
sons, when  it  is  not  excessively  numerous,  it  is  seldom 
noticed.  1st,  because  the  moths  are  low,  swift  flyers,  and 
nocturnal  in  habit;  2nd,  because  the  worms,  when  young, 
have  protective  coloring,  and,  when  mature,  hide  during 
the  day  at  the  base  of  grasses.  In  years  of  great  abun- 
dance the  worms  are  generally  unnoticed  during  early 
life,  and  attract  attention  only  when,  from  crowding  too 
much  on  each  other,  or  from  having  exhausted  the  food 
supply  in  the  fields  in  which  they  hatched,  they  are 
forced  from  necessity  to  migrate  to  fresh  pastures  in 
great  bodies.  The  earliest  attain  full  growth  and  com- 
mence to  travel  in  armies,  to  devastate  our  fields,  and 
to  attract  attention,  about  the  time  that  winter  wheat  is 
in  the  milk — this  period  being  two  months  later  in  Maine 
than  in  Southern  Missouri;  and  they  soon  afterwards 
descend  into  the  ground,  and  thus  suddenly  disappear, 
to  issue  again  in  two  or  three  weeks  as  moths.  In  the 


134  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

latitude  of  St.  Louis,  the  bulk  of  these  moths  lay  eggs, 
from  which  are  produced  a  second  generation  of  worms, 
which  become  moths  again  late  in  July  or  early  in  August. 
Exceptionally  a  third  generation  of  worms  may  be  pro- 
duced from  these.  Further  north  there  is  but  one  gener- 
ation annually.  The  moths  hibernate,  and  oviposit  soon 
after  vegetation:  starts  in  spring.  The  chrysalides  may 
also  hibernate,  and  probably  do  so  to  a  large  extent  in 
the  more  Northern  States.  The  eggs  are  inserted  between 
the  sheath  and  stalk,  or  secreted  in  the  folds  of  a  blade; 
and  mature  and  perennial  grasses  are  preferred  for  this 
purpose.  The  worms  abound  in  wet  springs  preceded  by 
one  or  more  very  dry  years.  They  are  preyed  upon  by 
numerous  enemies,  which  so  effectually  check  their 
increase,  whenever  they  unusually  abound,  that  the 
second  brood,  when  it  occurs,  is  seldom  noticed;  and  two 
great  Army  Worm  years  have  never  followed  each  other, 
and  are  not  likely  to  do  so." 

THE  WHEAT-HEAD  ARMY  WORM. 
(Leucania  albilinia,  Guen). 

There  has  of  late  years  appeared,  first  in  Pennsylvania 
and  Maryland,  and  later  in  Kansas  and  Missouri,  an 
insect  in  many  respects  like  the  true  Army  Worm,  but 
which  has  shown  a  peculiar  tendency  to  feed  upon  the 
heads  of  wheat  and  other  small  grains.  When  newly 
hatched,  this  differs  from  the  true  Army  Worm  by  its 
black  head  and  later  by  having  five  instead  of  seven  pale 

*/  O 

lines,  and  six  instead  of  eight  dark  ones.  The  habit  of 
feeding  upon  the  grain  becomes  fixed  only  when  the 
Avorms  are  half  grown,  as  before  that  they  attack  the 
leaves,  grass,  etc.  Several  parasitic  insects  diminish  its 
numbers,  and  it  has  been  suggested  that  the  worms  could 
be  greatly  diminished  by  setting  traps  to  attract  the 
moths  by  means  of  lights  to  poisoned  sweet  liquids. 


OF  THE   FARM  AND  GARDEN.  135 

CLOVER. 

In  an  invasion  of  the  Rocky  Mountain  Locust  or  Grass- 
hopper, the  Clover  suffers  with  most  other  green  things, 
but  the  generally  voracious  Army  Worm,  while  it  occa- 
sionally nibbles  at  it,  usually  passes  to  more  acceptable 
plants.  There  are  a  few  caterpillars  of  moths  now  and 
then  found  upon  Clover,  but  are  regarded  mainly  as  acci- 
dental. Within  a  few  years,  it  has  been  discovered  that 


Fig.  90.— LARVA, 

MAGNIFIED. 


.  91.— CLOVER-SEED  MIDGE,  FEMALE  FLY. 
c,  Ovipositor ;  d,  Joints  of  Feeler,  enlarged. 


this  important  plant  has  two  enemies,  both  of  such  a 
destructive  character  as  to  demand  attention,  one,  a 
midge  that  destroys  the  seed,  the  other  a  borer  that 
injures  the  root, 

THE    CLOVER-SEED    MIDGE. 

(Cecidomyia  trifolii,  Riley.) 

This  insect  was  described  and  figured  in  the  "  Ameri- 
can Agriculturist"  for  July  1879.  The  larva  (fig.  90, 
much  magnified),  is  of  a  bright  orange-red  color,  lives 
within  the  Clover-heads,  and  by  exhausting  them  of 


136  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

their  juices,  causes  the  seed  to  shrivel  and  become  worth- 
less. When  they  have  made  their  growth,  these  Midges 
either  enter  the  ground,  or  hide  under  rubbish 
on  the  surface,  and  form  a  tough  silken  cocoon, 
with  particles  of  earth  adhering.  Some  of  the  flies 
appear  in  September,  and  others  not  until  the  following 
spring.  Figure  91  gives  a  highly  magnified  view  of  the 
female  fly  and  its  details.  Thus  far  this  insect's  ravages 
have  been  confined  to  the  Central  and  Western  parts  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  and  the  only  remedy  that  has 
been  suggested  is,  for  farmers  in  localities  where  the 
Midge  prevails,  to  stop  growing  clover-seed  for  several 
years,  or  until  the  insect  is  starved  out. 

THE   CLOVER-ROOT    BORER. 
(Hylesinus  trifolii,  Miller.) 

This  is  an  imported  insect  which  has  made  itself  at 
home  in  Central  New  York,  and  in  a  number  of  localities 
has  caused  a  general  failure  of  the  Clover  crop.  It 
was  first  described  and  figured  in  the  "  American 
Agriculturist"  for  November  1879.  The  engraving 
(fig.  92,)  shows  the  appearance  of  the  Clover,  a,  after  the 
attack  of  this  insect,  and  the  insect  itself  in  its  various 
stages  of  larva,  #,  pupa  c,  and  the  perfect  beetle  d.  It 
passes  the  winter  in  either  of  these  three  states,  and  in 
early  spring  the  insects  issue  and  pair.  The  female  then 
instinctively  bores  into  the  crown  of  the  root,  eating  a 
pretty  large  cavity,  wherein  she  deposits  from  four  to  six 
pale,  whitish,  elliptical  eggs.  These  hatch  in  about  a 
week,  and  the  young  larvae  at  first  feed  in  the  cavity 
made  by  the  parent.  After  a  few  days,  however,  they 
begin  to  burrow  downward,  extending  to  the  different 
branches  of  the  root.  The  galleries  made  in  burrowing 
run  pretty  regularly  along  the  axis  of  the  roots,  as  shown 
in  the  engraving,  and  are  filled  with  brown  excrement. 
The  pupa  is  formed  in  a  smooth  cavity,  generally  at  the 


OF  THE  FARM   AKD   GARDEN. 


13? 


end  of  one  of  these  burrows,  and  may  be  found  in  small 
numbers  as  early  as  September. 

It  is  the  custom  in  Western  New  York  to  sow  the 
Clover  in  spring  on  ground  already  sown  to  fall  wheat. 
This  is  generally  done  while 
snow  is  yet  on  the  ground,  or 
while  the  frost  is  disappear- 
ing. The  Clover  is  allowed 
to  go  to  seed  in  the  fall,  and 
usually  produces  but  little. 
During  the  second  year  one 
crop  of  hay  and  a  crop  of 
seed  are  obtained.  It  is  dur- 
ing the  second  year  the  injury 
of  the  Root- borer  is  most  ob- 
served. 

One  observer  reports  that 
this  insect  has  attacked  all 
the  clover  in  portions  of  Gen- 
esee  County,  I  examined 
clover  in  some  half  a  dozen 
fields  during  a  ride  of  ten 
miles,  and  found  every  plant 
I  pulled  up  was  more  or 
less  injured.  While  most  of 
the  plants  are  yet  alive,  they 
are  of  little  value  for  hay,  seed,  or  pasture.  The  only 
remedy  thus  far  suggested  is,  to  plow  under  all  the  clover 
found  to  be  infested  in  the  spring  of  the  second  year. 
Some  parasites  are  known  to  prey  on  this  insect,  which 
may  diminish  it. 

THE   CLOVER-WORM. 
(Asopia  costalis,  Fabr.) 

This  insect,  like  the  preceding  introduced  from  Europe, 
has  been  occasionally  noticed  for  the  last  twenty  years, 


Fig.  92.—  CLOVER-ROOT  BORER 

(Hylesinus  trifolii,  Miller.) 

a,  Injured  stem  and  root ;  6,  Larva ; 

c,  Pupa ;  d,  Beetle,  enlarged. 


138  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

and  now,  in  some  localities,  from  New  England  to  Mich- 
igan and  Illinois,  it  often  occurs  in  troublesome  numbers. 
It  attacks  the  clover  in  the-  niow  or  stack,  webbing  the 
stems  together  with  multitudes  of  silken  threads,  among 
which  is  such  an  abundance  of  black  excrement  as  to  un- 
.fit  the  clover  for  feeding  to  animals.  The  white  cocoons 
are  present  in  such  numbers,  that  one,  without  close 
examination,  would  pronounce  the  hay  to  be  mouldy. 


T 

Fig.  93.— CLOVER- WORM  (Asopia  costalis,  Fabr.) 
1  arid  2,  Larva  ;  3,  Cocoon ,  4,  Pupa  ;  5  and  6,  the  Moth  ,  7,  the  \Yeb. 

The  insects  are  usually  found  at  the  bottom  of  the  stack. 
Figure  93  shows  the  insect  in  its  various  stages,  1  and  2 
represent  the  larva,  3  the  cocoon,  4  the  pupa,  5  and  6  the 
moth,  and  7  the  white  web  in  which  the  worm  for  the 
most  part  lives.  The  moth  is  one  of  our  prettiest 
species,  being  of  a  reddish-brown  color  with  golden-yellow 
markings  and  fringe  to  its  wings.  It  is  suggested  as  a 
preventive,  that  hay  containing  clover  should  not  be 
stacked  twice  in  the  same  place,  and  that  the  stack  should 
be  placed  upon  log  or  other  foundations,  that  will  allow 
of  thorough  ventilation  from  below. 


UNIVERSITY 


Insects  Injurious  to  Fruit  Trees, 


APPLE-TREE    BORERS. 

THE    ROUND-HEADED    APPLE-TREE    BORER. 

bivittata,  Say.) 


Ifc  is  an  admitted  fact  that  apple  trees  on  the  ridges 
are  shorter  lived  than  those  grown  on  our  lower  lands. 
Hitherto  no  particular  reason  has  been  given  for  this  oc- 
currence, but  it  appears  to  be  mainly  attributed  to  the 
workings  of  the  borer  now  under  consideration.  It  has 
been  invariably  found  more  plentiful  in  trees  growing  on 
high  land  than  in  those  on  low  land,  and  worse  in 
plowed  orchards  than  on  those  which  are  seeded  down 
to  grass.  Fifty  years  ago,  large,  thrifty,  long-lived 
trees  were  exceedingly  common,  and  were  obtained 
with  comparatively  little  eifort  on  the  part  of  our  an- 
cestors. They  had  not  the  vast  army  of  insect  enemies 
to  contend  with,  which  at  the  present  day  makes  suc- 
cessful fruit  growing  difficult.  This  Apple-Tree  Borer 
was  entirely  unknown  until  Thomas  Say  described  it  in 
the  year  1834;  and,  according  to  Dr.  Fitch,  it  was  not 
until  the  year  following  that  its  destructive  character  be- 
came known  in  the  vicinity  of  Albany,  N.  Y.,  for  the 
first  time.  Yet  it  is  a  native  American  insect,  and  has 
for  ages  inhabited  our  indigenous  Crab-apple  trees  from 
which  trees  Mr.  A.  Bolter  took  numerous  specimens,  in 
the  vicinity  of  Chicago,  ten  years  ago.  It  also  attacks  the 
Quince,  Mountain-ash,  Hawthorn,  Pear,  and  the  June- 
berry.  Few  persons  are  aware  to  what  an  alarming  ex- 
139 


140 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


tent  this  insect  is  infesting  the  orchards  in  various  local- 
ities. A  tree  becomes  unhealthy  and  eventually  dwindles 
and  dies,  often  without  the  owner  having  the  least  sus- 
picion of  the  true  cause — the  gnawing  worm  within. 

At  figure  94  this  borer  is  represented  in  its  three  stages 
of  larva  (a),  pupa  (b),  and  perfect  beetle  (c).  The  bee- 
tle may  be  known  by  the  popular  name  of  the  Two- 
striped  Saperda,  while  its  larva  is  best  known  by  the 
name  of  the  Kound-headed  Apple-Tree  Borer,  in  contra- 
distinction to  the  flat-headed  species  next  treated  of. 


Fig.  94.— BOUND-HEADED  APPLE-TREE  BORER  (Saperda  UvUtata,  Say.) 
a, Larva;   b.Pupa;   c,  Beetle. 

The  average  length  of  the  larva,  when  full  grown,  is 
about  one  inch,  and  the  width  of  the  first  segment  is  not 
quite  one-fourth  of  an  inch.  Its  color  is  light-yellow, 
with  a  tawny-yellow  spot  of  a  more  horny  consistency  on 
the  first  segment,  which,  under  a  lens,  is  found  to  be 
formed  of  a  mass  of  dark-brown  spots.  The  head  is 
chestnut-brown,  polished  and  horny,  and  the  jaws  are 
deep-black.  The  pupa  is  of  rather  lighter  color  than  the 
larva,  and  has  transverse  rows  of  minute  teeth  on  the 
back,  and  a  few  at  the  extremity  of  the  body;  the  perfect 
beetle  has  two  longitudinal  white  stripes  between  three 
of  a  light  cinnamon-brown  color.  The  Two-striped  Sa- 
perda makes  its  appearance  in  the  beetle  state  during  the 
months  of  May  and  June,  and  is  seldom  seen  by  any  but 


OP  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  141 

the  entomologist  who  makes  a  point  of  hunting  for  it,  as 
it  remains  quietly  hidden  by  day  and  flies  and  moves  only 
by  night.  The  female  deposits  her  eggs  during  the 
month  of  June,  mostly  at  the  foot  of  the  tree,  and  the 
young  worms  hatch  and  commence  boring  into  the  bark 
within  a  fortnight  afterwards.  These  young  worms  dif- 
fer in  no  essential  from  the  full  grown  specimens,  except 
in  the  very  minute  size;  and  they  invariably  live  for  the 
first  year  of  their  lives  on  the  sap-wood  and  inner  bark, 
excavating  shallow,  flat  cavities  which  are  found  stuffed 
full  of  their  saw-dust  like  castings.  The  hole  by  which 
the  newly  hatched  worm  penetrates  is  so  very  minute  that 
it  frequently  fills  up,  though  not  before  a  few  grains  of 
castings  have  fallen  from  it,  but  the  presence  of  the  woims 
may  be  generally  detected,  especially  in  young  trees,  from 
the  bark,  under  which  they  lie,  becoming  darkened,  and 
sufficiently  dry  and  dead  to  contract  and  form  cracks. 
Through  these  cracks,  some  of  the  castings  of  the  worm 
generally  protrude,  and  fall  to  the  ground  in  a  little  heap, 
and  this  occurs  more  especially  in  the  spring  of  the  year, 
when,  with  the  rising  sap  and  frequent  rains,  such  cast- 
ings become  swollen  and  augment  in  bulk.  Some  have 
supposed  that  the  worm  makes  these  holes  to  push  out  its 
own  excrement,  and  that  it  is  forced  to  do  this  to  make 
room  for  itself;  but,  though  it  may  sometimes  gnaw  a  hole 
for  this  purpose,  such  an  instance  has  never  come  to  our 
knowledge,  and  that  it  is  necessary  to  the  life  of  the  worm 
is  simply  a  delusion,  for  there  are  hundreds  of  boring  in- 
sects who  never  have  recourse  to  such  a  procedure,  and 
this  one  is  frequently  found  below  the  ground,  where  it 
cannot  possibly  thus  get  rid  of  its  castings.  It  is  cur- 
rently supposed  that  this  borer  penetrates  into  the  heart 
wood  of  the  tree  after  the  first  year  of  its  existence, 
whereas  the  Flat-headed  borer  is  supposed  to  remain  for 
the  most  part  immediately  under  the  bark;  but  on  these 
points  no  rule  can  be  given,  for  the  Flat-headed  species 


142  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

also  frequently  penetrates  into  the  solid  heart  wood,  while 
the  one  under  consideration  is  often  found  in  a  full 
grown  state  just  under  the  inner  bark,  or  in  the  sap 
wood.  %  The  usual  course  of  its  life  however  runs  as  fol- 
lows: 

As  winter  approaches,  the  young  borer  descends  as  near 
the  ground  as  its  burrow  will  allow,  and  doubtless  remains 
inactive  until  the  following  spring.  On  approach  of  the 
second  winter  it  is  about  one-half  grown,  and  still  living 
on  the  sap-wood;  and  it  is  at  this  time  that  these  borers 
do  the  most  damage,  for  where  there  are  four  or  six  in  a 
single  tree,  they  almost  completely  girdle  it.  During 
the  next  summer,  when  the  worm  has  become  about 
three-fourths  grown,  it  generally  commences  to  cut  a 
cylindrical  passage  upward  into  the  solid  wood,  and  be- 
fore it  has  finished  its  larval  growth,  it  invariably  extends 
this  passage  right  to  the  bark,  sometimes  cutting  entirely 
through  a  tree  to  the  opposite  side  from  which  it  com- 
menced; sometimes  turning  back  at  different  angles.  It 
then  stuffs  the  upper  end  of  the  passage  with  sawdust- 
like  powder,  and  the  lower  part  with  curly  fibres  of  wood, 
after  which  it  rests  from  its  labors.  It  thus  finishes  its 
gnawing  work  during  the  commencement  of  the  third 
winter,  but  remains  motionless  in  the  larval  state  until 
the  following  spring,  when  it  casts  off  its  skin  once  more 
and  becomes  a  pupa.  After  resting  three  weeks  in  the 
pupa  state,  it  appears  as  a  beetle,  with  all  its  members 
and  parts  at  first  soft  and  weak.  These  gradually  harden, 
and  in  a  fortnight  more  it  cuts  its  way  through  its  saw- 
dust-like castings,  and  issues  from  the  tree  through  a  per- 
fectly round  hole.  Thus  it  is  in  the  tree  a  few  days  less 
than  three  years,  and  not  merely  two  years  as  Dr.  Fitch 
suggests. 

REMEDIES. — From  this  brief  sketch  of  the  Round- 
headed  borer,  it  becomes  apparent  that  plugging  the 
holes  to  keep  him  in,  is  on  a  par  with  locking  the  stable 


OF  THE  FARM  AND  GARDEN.  143 

door  to  keep  the  horse  in,  after  he  is  stolen;  even  suppos- 
ing there  were  any  philosophy  in  the  plugging  system, 
which  there  is  not;  the  round  smooth  holes  are  infallible 
indication  that  the  borer  has  left,  while  the  plugging  up 
of  any  other  holes  or  cracks  where  the  castings  are  seen, 
will  not  affect  the  intruder.  This  insect  probably  has 
some  natural  enemies,  belonging  to  its  own  great  class, 
and  some  wood-peckers  doubtless  seek  it  out  from  its 
retreat  and  devour  it;  but  its  enemies  are  certainly  not 
sufficiently  under  our  control,  and  to  grow  healthy  apple 
trees,  we  have  to  fight  it  artificially.  Here  again  preven- 
tion will  prove  better  than  cure,  and  a  stitch  in  time  will 
not  only  save  nine,  but  fully  ninety-nine. 

Experiments  have  amply  proved  that  alkaline  washes  are 
repulsive  to  this  insect,  and  the  female  beetle  will  not  lay 
her  eggs  upon  trees  protected  by  such  washes.  Keep  the 
base  of  every  tree  in  the  orchard  free  from  weeds  and 
trash,  and  apply  soap  to  them  during  the  month  of  May, 
and  they  will  not  probably  be  troubled  with  borers.  For 
this  purpose  soft-soap  or  common  bar  soap  can  be  used. 
The  last  is  perhaps  the  most  convenient,  and  the  newer 
and  softer  it  is  the  better.  Home-made  soft-soap,  such 
as  is  prepared  on  many  farms  from  ley  of  wood-ashes, 
usually  contains  an  access  of  alkali,  and  when  thinned 
with  water,  so  that  it  will  work  with  a  brush  is  excellent, 
This  borer  confines  himself  almost  entirely  to  the  base  of 
the  tree,  though  very  rarely  it  is  found  in  the  crotch.  It 
is  therefore  only  necessary  in  soaping,  to  rub  over  the 
lower  part  of  the  trunk  and  the  crotch,  but  is  a  very 
good  plan  to  lay  a  piece  of  hard  soap  in  the  principal 
crotch,  so  that  it  may  be  washed  down  by  the  rains.  In 
case  these  precautions  have  not  been  taken,  and  the 
borer  is  already  at  work,  many  of  them  may  be  killed  by 
cutting  through  the  bark  at  the  upper  end  of  their  bur- 
rows, and  gradually  pouring  hot  water  into  the  cuts,  so 
that  it  will  soak  through  the  castings,  and  penetrate  to 


144 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


the  insect.  But  even  where  the  soap  preventive  is  used 
in  the  month  of  May,  it  is  always  advisable  to  examine 
the  trees  in  the  fall,  at  which  time  the  young  worms  that 
hatched  through  the  summer  may  be  generally  detected, 
and  easily  cut  out  without  injury  to  the  tree.  Particular  at- 
tention should  also  be  paid  to  any  tree  that  has  been  injured 
or  sun-scalded,  as  such  trees  are  most  liable  to  be  attacked. 

THE   FLAT-HEADED    APPLE-TREE    BORER. 
(Chrysobothris  femorata,  Fabr.) 

This  borer  which  is  presented  in  the  larva  state  at 
figure  95,  a,  may  at  once  be  recognized  by  it  anterior  ends 
being  enormously  enlarged  and 
flattened.  It  is  paler  than  the 
preceding,  and  makes  an  entirely 
different  burrow.  In  consequence 
of  its  immensely  broad  and  flat- 
tened head,  it  bores  a  hole  of  an 
oval  shape,  and  twice  as  wide  as 
high.  It  never  acquires  much 
more  than  half  the  size  of  the 
other  species,  and  is  almost  al- 
ways found  with  its  tail  curled 

Fig.  95.— FLAT-HEADED     completely    round    towards    the 

APPLE-TREE  BORER    ( UhrySO- 1          n          T.      i:voa      1,,,+     nT,A     TTOQT.     in 

bothris  femorata,  Fabr.)     neacL      Xt    mes       Ut    °ne    Jear    m 

a,  Larva;  6,  Pupate,  upper  joints  the  tree,  and  produces  the  beetle 

of  Larva  seen  from  beneath ;  * 

a,  Beetle.  represented  at  figure  95,  d,  which 

is  of  a  greenish-black  color,  with  brassy  lines  and  spots 
above,  the  underside  appearing  like  burnished  copper. 
This  beetle  flies  by  day  instead  of  by  night,  and  may  often 
be  found  on  different  trees  basking  in  the  sunshine.  It  at- 
tacks not  only  the  Apple,  but  the  Peach,  also  the  Soft  Ma- 
ple, Oak,  and  is  said  to  attack  a  variety  of  other  forest 
trees;  though,  since  the  larvae  of  the  family  (Bupre&tida), 
to  which  it  belongs,  all  bear  a  striking  resemblance  to  each 


OF  THE   FARM  AND   GARDEN.  145 

other,  it  is  possible  that  this  particular  species  has  been 
accused  of  more  than  it  deserves.  It  is,  however,  but 
far  too  common  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
along  the  Iron  Mountain  and  Pacific  railroads;  it  is  even 
more  common  than  the  preceding  species. 

Mr.  G.  Paul,  of  Eureka,  states  that  it  has  killed  fifty 
apple  trees  for  him,  and  Mr.  Votaw,  and  many  others  in 
that  neighborhood  have  suffered  from  it  in  like  manner. 
It  is  also  seriously  affecting  the  soft  maples  by  riddling 
them  through  and  through,  though  it  confines  itself  for 
the  most  part  to  the  inner  bark,  causing  peculiar  black 
scars  and  holes  in  the  trunk.  Unless  its  destructive  work 
is  soon  checked,  it  bids  fair  to  impair  the  value  of  this 
tree  for  shade  and  ornamental  purposes,  as  effectually  as 
the  Locust-borers  have  done  with  the  Locust  trees. 

EEMEDIES. — Dr.  Fitch  found  that  this  borer  was  at- 
tacked by  the  larvae  of  some  parasitic  fly  belonging  prob- 
ably to  the  CJialcis  family,  but  it  is  greatly  to  be  feared 
that  this  parasite  is  as  yet  unknown  in  the  West.  At  all 
events  this  Flat-headed  borer  is  far  more  common  with 
our  Eastern  brethren.  As  this  beetle  makes  its  appear- 
ance during  the  months  of  May  and  June,  and  as  the  eggs 
are  deposited  on  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  as  with  the  pre- 
ceding species,  the  same  method  of  cutting  them  out,  or 
scalding  them  can  be  applied  in  the  one  case  as  in  the 
other;  while  the  soap  preventive  is  proved  to  be  equally 
effectual  with  this  species  as  with  the  other.  It  must, 
however,  be  applied  more  generally  over  the  tree,  as  they 
attack  all  parts  of  the  trunk,  and  even  the  larger  limbs. 

THE  APPLE-TWIG  BORER. 
(Amphicerus  bicaudatus,  Say.) 

The  Apple-twig  borer  is  a  modest  looking  dark-brown 
insect,  the  thorax  rounded  and  rough-punctured,  espec- 
ially in  front  where  it  is  produced  into  two  little  horns, 
7 


146  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

and  covered  with  small  rasp-like  prominences.  The 
wing-covers  are  also  rough-punctured,  and  while  in  the 
female  (fig.  96,  a),  they  have  but  a  slight  keel-like  eleva- 
tion at  the  hind  end,  they  are  furnished  in  the  male  (fig. 
96,  V),  with  two  little  horns,  from  which  characteristic 
the  specific  name  (two-tailed)  is  derived. 

The  holes  made  in  the  twigs,  generally  have  their  en- 
trance just  above  a  bud  or  fork  as  at  figure  97,  c.  This 
insect  is  not  known  to  bore  more  than  an  inch  and  a-half 
into  the  twig  (fig.  97,  d),  and  the  holes  are  generally 
made  downwards,  and  in  the  wood  of  the  previous  year's 
growth,  though  they  are  sometimes  exceptionally  bored 
upward  and  in  three-year  old  wood.  The  beetles  seem 
to  prefer  some  particular  varieties,  such  as  Benoni  and 


a  b 

Fig.  96.— APPLE-TWIG 

BORER.  Fig.  97. — APPLE-TWIG  BORER, 

a  Female  ;  b,  Male.  c,  Puncture ;  d,  Interior  of  Stein. 

Red  June,  to  other  varieties  of  the  Apple,  and  though 
they  likewise  occur  in  Pear  and  Peach  stems,  and  in  the 
Grape,  they  have  not  been  found  in  those  of  the  Crab-apple. 

Both  the  male  and  female  beetles  bore  these  holes,  and 
may  always  be  found  in  them,  head  downwards,  during 
the  winter  and  spring  months.  The  holes  are  made  for 
food  and  protection,  and  not  for  breeding  purposes.  In- 
deed, common  as  this  insect  is,  its  preparatory  stages  are 
entirely  unknown,  and  whoever  will  ascertain  its  larval 
history,  will  confer  a  favor  on  the  community. 

The  bored  twigs  almost  always  break  off  by  the  wind, 
or  else  the  hole  catches  the  water  in  spring  and  causes  an 
unsound  place  in  the  tree.  If  the  twig  does  not  break 
off,  it  withers  and  the  leaves  turn  brown.  The  only  way 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


to  counteract  the  injuries  committed  by  this  beetle,  is  to 
prune  the  infested  twigs,  whenever  found,  and  take  great 
care  to  burn  them  with  their  contents.  It  is  in  the  nur- 
sery that  most  damage  is  done  by  this  insect,  as  it  is  sel- 
dom numerous  enough  in  an  orchard  of  large  trees  to 
more  than  cause  what  the  philosophic  orchardist 
termed  "  a  good  summer  pruning." 

UNIVERSITY 


BAKK-LICE. 


The  Bark-lice  belong  to  the  Order  Hemiptera,  in 
which  they  form  the  group  or  family,  Coccidew,  so  named 
from  the  genus  Coccus,  one  species 
of  which  is  the  remarkable  Cochineal 
Insect.  Several  of  these  insects  are 
very  injurious  to  the  Orange  trees  and 
others  of  that  Family;  one  infests  the 
Osage  Orange,  while  at  least  two  at- 
tack our  orchard  trees,  especially  the 
Apple,  though  the  Pear,  Quince,  etc.f 
are  often  infested  by  them. 

HARRIS'S  BARK-LOUSE. 
(Aspidiotus  Harrisii,  Walsh.) 


Fig.    98.—  HARRIS'S 
BARK-LOUSE. 


This  appears  upon  the  trunks  of 
small  trees,  and  the  branches  of  older 
ones,  in  the  form  of  dirty-white  scales, 
which  are  usually  irregularly  egg-shaped;  but,  however 
variable  in  outline,  it  is  always  quite  flat  and  causes  the 
infested  tree  to  wear  the  appearance  of  figure  98;  while 
the  minute  eggs  which  are  found  under  it  in  winter  time 
are  invariably  blood-red  or  lake-red.  This  species  has 
scarcely  ever  been  known  to  increase  sufficiently  to  do 


148  INJURIOUS  IKSECTS 

material  damage,  for  the  reason,  doubtless,  that  there 
have,  hitherto,  always  been  natural  enemies  and  parasites 
enough  to  keep  it  in  due  bounds. 

THE    OYSTER-SHELL   BAEK-LOUSE. 
(Mytilaspis  pomicorticis,  Riley.) 

The  Oyster-shell  Bark-louse,  was  formerly  known  as 
Aspidiotus  conchiformis,  but  changed  by  Prof.  Eiley  for 
good  reasons  to  the  name  given  above.  It  is  one  of  the 
most  pernicious  and  destructive  insects  with  which  the 

apple-grower  in  the  North- 
ern States  has  to  contend. 
This  species  presents  the 
appearance  of  figure  99, 
and  may  always  be  dis- 
Fig.  99.-OTSTEK-SHELL  BABK^"  tinguished  from  the  pre- 

ceding,  by  having  a  very 
uniform  mussel-shaped  scale  of  an  ash-gray  color  (the 
identical  color  of  the  bark),  and  by  these  scales,  contain- 
ing, in  the  winter  time,  not  red,  but  pure  white  eggs. 

There  is  scarcely  an  apple-orchard  in  Northern  Illinois, 
in  Iowa,  or  in  Wisconsin,  that  has  not  suffered  more  or 
less  from  its  attacks,  and  many  an  one  has  been  slowly 
but  surely  bled  to  death  by  this  tiny  sap-sucker.  It  was 
introduced  into  the  Eastern  States  about  the  beginning 
of  the  present  century,  from  Europe,  and  had  already 
reached  as  far  west  as  Wisconsin  in  1840,  from  whence  it 
spread  at  a  most  alarming  rate  throughout  the  districts 
bordering  on  Lake  Michigan.  It  occurs  at  the  present 
time  in  Minnesota  and  Iowa,  but  whether  or  not  it 
extends  westward  beyond  the  Missouri  River,  there  are 
no  data  to  show.  Its  extension  southward  is  undoubtedly 
limited,  for  though  so  abundant  in  the  northern  half  of 


OF   THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  149 

Illinois,  observation  has  shown  that  it  does  not  exist  in 
the  southern  half  of  the  same  State. 

As  the  female  Bark-louse  is  only  capable  of  motion  for 
two  to  three  days  at  the  most,  after  which  time  she 
becomes  as  permanently  fixed  for  the  rest  of  her  life,  as  is 
the  tree  on  which  she  is  fastened,  it  may  puzzle  some  to 
divine  how  this  insect  spreads  from  tree  to  tree,  and  place 
to  place.  That  it  is  transported  to  distant  places,  mainly 
on  young  trees,  there  can  be  no  doubt,  and  there  are 
various  ways  in  which  it  can  spread  from  tree  to  tree  in 
the  same  orchard,  though  it  can  only  thus  spread  during 
the  few  days  of  its  active  larval  state. 

Though  essentially  belonging  to  the  Apple  Tree,  this 
Oyster-shell  Bark-louse,  is  found  upon  the  Currant,  the 
Plum,  and  the  Pear.  I  have  seen  the  scales  fully 
developed,  and  bearing  healthy  eggs  on  the  fruit  of  the 
White  Doyenne  Pear,  of  the  Transcendent  Crab,  and  of 
Wild  Plum  (Prunus  Americana);  and,  though  on  the 
hard  bark  of  a  tree,  we  cannot  judge  of  the  amount  of 
sap  they  absorb,  it  is  quite  apparent  on  these  soft  fruits, 
for  each  scale  causes  a  considerable  depression  from  the 
general  surface. 

EEMEDIES. — If  an  orchard  is  once  attacked  before  the 
owner  is  aware  of  it,  much  could  be  done  on  the  young 
trees  by  scraping  the  scales  off  in  winter,  but  on  large 
trees,  where  it  is  difficult  to  reach  all  the  terminal  twigs, 
this  method  becomes  altogether  impracticable,  and  it 
will  avail  but  little  to  cleanse  the  trunk  alone,  as  most  of 
the  scales  containing  living  eggs  will  be  found  on  the 
terminal  branches.  Alkaline  washes,  and  all  other 
washes,  except  those  of  an  oily  nature,  such  as  petroleum 
and  kerosene,  are  of  no  avail  when  applied  to  the  scales, 
for  the  simple  reason  that  they  do  not  penetrate  and 
reach  the  eggs  which  are  so  well  protected  by  these 
scales;  and  it  is  very  doubtful  whether  any  solution  can 
be  used,  that  is  sufficiently  oily  to  penetrate  the  scales 


150  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

and  kill  the  eggs  without  injury  to  the  tree,  especially 
while  the  sap  of  the  tree  is  inactive.  Hence  the  Bark- 
louse  can  only  be  successfully  fought  at  the  time  the  eggs 
are  hatching,  and  the  young  lice  are  crawling  over  the 
limbs.  The  time  of  year  in  which  this  occurs,  are  the 
last  days  of  May  and  the  first  days  of  June,  but  without 
close  scrutiny  they  will  not  be  observed,  as  they  appear 
like  very  minute,  white,  moving  specks.  "While  the 
young  larvae  are  thus  crawling  over  the  tree,  they  are  so 
tender  that  they  can  be  readily  destroyed  by  simply 
scrubbing  the  limbs  with  a  stiff  brush. 

With  regard  to  washes  to  be  used  with  a  syringe,  the 
late  Dr.  Jno.  Kennicott  used  one  pound  of  Sal.  Soda,  to 
one  gallon  of  water  with  good  effect;  Mr.  E.  GL  Mygatt, 
of  Eichmond,  McHenry  County,  Illinois,  has  experi- 
mented with  this  insect  for  over  twenty  years,  with  the 
following  result:  Brine  (2  quarts  salt  to  8  of  water),  kills 
the  lice,  but  also  the  foliage  and  fruit.  Tobacco- water 
(strong  decoction),  neither  injures  the  foliage  nor  affects 
the  lice.  Weak  Lye,  while  it  kills  the  lice,  will  also  some- 
what affect  the  leaves.  Lime-water  kills  about  half  the 
lice,  and  affects  the  leaves  a  little.  Finally,  a  decoction 
of  Quassia,  though  well  known  to  be  effectual  for  the 
common  Plant-lice,  has  no  effect  on  these  Coccids.  In 
short,  we  have  abundant  proof  that  neither  Tobacco- 
water,  nor  strong  Alkaline  washes,  have  any  effect  on  the 
young  lice,  though  a  strong  solution  of  soap  will  kill 
them,  and  my  experience  the  past  season,  with  Cresylic 
Acid  soap  in  other  directions,  leads  me  to  strongly 
recommend  it  for  this  purpose.  It  will  sometimes  be  nec- 
essary to  repeat  the  wash,  as  the  lice  do  not  all  hatch  out 
the  same  day,  though  the  period  of  hatching  seldom 
extends  over  three  days. 

From  the  foregoing  it  is  obvious  that  Bark -lice  can 
only  be  successfully  fought  during  three  or  four  days  of 
the  year;  how  absurd  and  ridiculous  then,  are  all  the 


OE  THE   FAKM   AND   GARDEN.  151 

patent  nostrums  and  compounds,  which  are  continuously 
offered  to  the  public  us  perfect  "  Bark-lice  extinguishers," 
and  which  never  mention  this  important  fact. 

One  case  was  reported  to  the  "  American  Agricul- 
turist "  a  few  years  ago,  by  the  owner  of  a  Pear  Tree 
badly  covered  with  this  Bark-louse.  Painters  were  at 
work  painting  the  house,  and  in  a  fit  of  desperation  he 
took  a  brush  and  painted  the  tree  from  the  ground  to  the 
end  of  the  smallest  branch,  expecting  of  course  to  kill  it. 
Much  to  his  surprise,  the  tree  pushed  its  shoots  as  readily 
as  ever,  and  was  perfectly  free  from  the  insect.  Another 
case  was  reported  in  the  same  journal  of  the  efficacy  of 
Crude  Petroleum,  used  in  the  same  manner  on  young 
Apple  trees.  These  however  may  be  regarded  as  desperate 
cases,  and  are  only  given  as  hints. 


THE  APPLE-TREE  TENT-CATERPILLAR. 
(Clisiocampa  Americana,  Harr.) 

"What  orchardist  in  the  older  States  of  the  Union  is 
not  familiar  with  the  white  web-nests  of  this  caterpillar? 
As  they  glisten  in  the  rays  of  the  spring  sun  before  the 
trees  have  put  on  their  full  summer  dress,  these  nests, 
which  are  then  small,  speak  volumes  of  the  negligence 
and  slovenliness  of  the  owner  of  the  orchard,  and  tell  more 
truly  than  almost  any  thing  else  why  it  is  that  he  fails 
and  has  bad  luck  with  his  apple  crop.  Wherever  these 
nests  abound  one  feels  morally  certain  that  the  borers, 
the  Codling-moth,  and  the  many  other  enemies  of  the 
apple  tree,  have  full  play  to  do  as  they  please,  unmolested 
and  unnoticed  by  him  whom  they  are  ruining. 

The  small,  bright  and  glistening  web,  if  unmolested,  is 
soon  enlarged  until  it  spreads  over  whole  branches,  and 
the  caterpillars  which  were  the  architects,  in  time  become 


152 


INJUBIOUS  INSECTS 


moths,  and  they  lay  their  eggs  for  an  increased  supply 
of  nests  another  year. 

This  insect  is  so  well  known  throughout  the  country 
that  it  is  only  necessary  to  give  here  the  most  prominent 
and  important  points  in  its  history,  the  more  especially 


^;^£S 


Fig.  100. — APPLE-TREE  TENT-CATERPILLAR  ( Clmocampa  Americana,  Harr.) 
a,  Side  View;  6,  Back  View  of  Caterpillar  ;  c,  Eggs  ;  d,  Cocoon. 

as  the  figures  herewith  given  will  alone  enable  the  novice 
to  recognize  it  the  moment  it  appears  in  a  young  orchard. 
The  eggs  (fig.  100,  c),  from  which  these  caterpillars 
hatch  are  deposited  mostly  during  the  month  of  June,  in 
oval  rings,  upon  the  smaller  twigs,  and  this  peculiar 
mode  of  deposition  renders  them  conspicuous  objects 
during  the  winter  time,  when  by  a  little  practice  they  can 


OF  THE   FARM  AND   GARDEN.  153 

easily  be  distinguished  from  the  buds,  knots,  or  swellings 
of  the  naked  twigs.  Each  cluster  consists  of  from  two 
to  three  hundred  eggs,  and  is  covered  and  protected  from 
the  weather  by  a  coating  of  glutinous  matter,  and  the 
same  temperature  which  causes  the  apple-buds  to  swell 
and  burst,  quickens  the  vital  energies  of  these  larvae  and 
causes  them  to  eat  their  way  out  of  their  eggs.  Very 
often  they  hatch  during  a  prematurely  warm  spell,  and 
before  there  is  any  green  leaf  for  them  to  feed  upon,  but 
they  are  so  tough  and  hardy  that  they  can  fast  for  many 
days  with  impunity,  and  the  glutinous  substance  on  the 
outside  of  their  eggs  furnishes  good  sustenance  and 
gives  them  strength  at 
first.  It  is  even  as- 
serted by  Mr.  H.  0. 
Raymond,  of  Council 
Bluffs,  Iowa,  that  the 
eggs  often  hatch  in  the 

fall,   and   that  in    these  Fi£-  101.— APPLE-TREE  TENT- 

CATERPILLAR,  MOTH. 
cases    the    larvae   with- 
stand the  severity  of  the  winter   with  impunity. 

The  young  caterpillars  commence  spinning  the  moment 
they  are  born,  and  indeed  they  never  move  without  ex- 
tending their  thread  wherever  they  go.  All  the  individ- 
uals hatched  from  the  same  batch  of  eggs  work  together 
in  harmony,  and  each  performs  its  share  of  building  the 
common  tent,  under  which  they  shelter  when  not  feed- 
ing and  during  inclement  weather.  They  usually  feed 
twice  each  day,  namely,  once  in  the  forenoon  and  once  in 
the  afternoon.  After  feeding  for  five  or  six  weeks, 
during  which  time  they  change  their  skins  four  times, 
these  caterpillars  acquire  their  full  growth,  when  they  ap- 
pear as  at  fig.  100  (a  side  view,  b  back  view),  the  colors 
being  black,  white,  blue  and  rufous  or  reddish.  They 
then  scatter  in  all  directions  in  search  of  some  cozy  and 
sheltered  nook,  such  as  the  crevice  or  angle  of  the  fence, 


154  INJUKIOUS   INSECTS 

and  having  finally  decided  on  the  spot,  each  one  spins  an 
oblong-oval  yellow  cocoon  (fig.  100,  d],  the  silk  composing 
which  is  intermixed  with  a  yellow  fluid  or  paste,  which 
dries  into  a  powder  looking  something  like  sulphur.  A 
few  individuals  almost  always  remain  and  spin  up  in  the 
tent,  and  these  cocoons  will  be  found  intermixed  with  the 
black  excrement  long  after  the  old  tent  is  deserted. 

Within  this  cocoon  the  caterpillar  soon  assumes  the 
chrysalis  state,  and  from  it,  at  the  end  of  about  three 
weeks,  the  perfect  insect  issues  as  a  dull  yellowish-brown 
or  a  reddish-brown  moth  (fig.  101),  characterized  chiefly 
by  the  front  wings  being  divided  into  three  nearly  equal 
parts  by  two  transverse  whitish  or  pale-yellowish  lines, 
and  by  the  middle  space  between  these  lines  being  paler 
than  in  the  rest  of  the  wing  in  the  males,  though  it  is 
more  often  of  the  same  color,  or  even  darker  in  the  fe- 
males. The  species  is,  however,  very  variable. 

The  moths  do  not  feed,  and  the  sole  aim  of  their  lives 
seems  to  be  the  perpetuation  of  their  kind;  for  as  soon 
as  they  have  paired  and  each  female  has  carefully  con- 
signed her  eggs  to  some  twig,  they  die,  and  when  the 
proper  time  comes  around  again  the  eggs  will  hatch,  and 
the  same  cycle  of  changes  take  place  each  year. 

This  insect  in  all  probability  extends  wherever  the 
wild  Black  Cherry  (Prunus  serotina)  is  found,  as  it  pre- 
fers this  tree  to  all  others;  and  this  is  probably  the  reason 
why  the  young  so  often  hatch  out  before  the  apple  buds 
burst,  because,  as  is  well  known,  the  Cherry  leaves  out 
much  earlier.  Besides  the  Cherry  and  Apple,  both  wild 
and  cultivated,  the  Apple-Tree  Tent-caterpillar  will  feed 
upon  Plum,  Thorn,  Rose,  and  perhaps  on  most  plants  be- 
longing to  the  Rose  family,  though  the  Peach  is  not  con- 
genial to  it,  and  it  never  attacks  the  Pear,  upon  which 
it  is  said  that  it  will  starve.  It  does  well  on  Willow  and 
Poplar,  and  even  on  White  Oak,  according  to  Fitch,  who 
also  found  it  on  Witch  Hazel  (Hamamelis)  and  Beech. 


OF  THE   FAEM   AKD   GAKDEH.  155 

REMEDIES. — No  insect  is  more  readily  kept  in  sub- 
jection than  this.  Cut  off  and  burn  the  egg-clusters 
during  winter,  and  examine  the  trees  carefully  in  the 
spring  for  the  nests  from  such  clusters  as  may  have 
eluded  the  winter  search.  The  eggs  are  best  seen  in  a  dull 
day  in  winter  when  they  show  distinctly  against  the  sky. 
Though  to  kill  the  caterpillars  numerous  methods  have 
been  resorted  to,  such  as  burning,  and  swabbing  with  oil, 
soap  suds,  lye,  etc.,  they  are  all  unnecessary,  for  the  nests 
should  not  be  allowed  to  get  large,  and  if  taken  when 
small  are  most  easily  and  effectually  destroyed  by  going 
over  the  orchard  with  the  fruit-ladder,  and  by  the  use  of 
gloved  hands.  As  the  caterpillars  feed  twice  a  day,  once 
in  the  forenoon  and  once  in  the  afternoon,  and  as  they 
are  almost  always  in  their  nests  till  after  nine  A.  M.,  and 
late  in  the  evening,  the  early  and  late  hours  of  the  day 
are  the"  best  in  which  to  perform  the  operation.  As  a 
means  of  facilitating  their  destruction,  it  would  be  a  good 
plan,  as  Dr.  Fitch  has  suggested,  to  place  a  few  Wild 
Cherry  trees  in  the  vicinity  of  the  orchard,  and  as  the 
moths  will  mostly  be  attracted  to  such  trees  to  deposit 
their  eggs,  and  as  a  hundred  clusters  on  a  single  tree  are 
destroyed  more  easily  than  if  they  were  scattered  over  a 
hundred  trees,  these  trees  will  repay  the  trouble  wherever 
the  Tent-caterpillar  is  known  to  be  a  grievous  pest. 

THE  TENT-CATERPILLAR  OF  THE  FOREST. 

(Clisiocampa  sylvatica,  Harr.) 

The  egg-mass  from  which  the  Tent-caterpillar  of  the 
Forest  hatches  (fig.  102,  a,  showing  it  after  the  young  larvse 
have  escaped)  may  at  once  be  distinguished  from  that  of 
the  common  Tent-caterpillar  by  its  being  of  a  uniform 
diameter,  and  docked  off  squarely  at  each  end.  It  is  usu- 
ally composed  of  about  four  hundred  eggs,  (the  number 


156 


INJUBIOTJS  INSECTS 


in  five  masses  ranging  from  three  hundred  and  eighty  to 
four  hundred  and  sixteen).  Each  of  the  eggs  composing 
this  mass  is  of  a  cream-white  color,  0.04  inch  long  and 
0.025  inch  wide,  narrow  and  rounded  at  the  attached  end 
or  base,  gradually  enlarging  towards  the  top,  where  it 
becomes  slightly  smaller  (fig.  102,  d),  and  abruptly  ter- 
minates with  a  prominent  circular  rim  on  the  outside, 
and  a  sunken  spot  in  the  center  (c).  These  eggs  are  de- 
posited in  circles,  the  female  moth  stationing  herself,  for 
this  purpose,  in  a  transverse  position  across  the  twig. 
With  abdomen  curved  she  gradually  moves  as  the  depo- 


Fig.  102. — TENT-CATERPILLAR  OF  THE  FOREST  (Clisiocampa  sylvoticd). 
a,  Egg-mass ;   &,  Moth ;   c,  top  of  Egg ;  d,  Eggs. 

sition  goes  on,  and  when  one  circle  is  completed,  she 
commences  another — and  not  before.  With  each  egg  is 
secreted  a  brown  varnish  which  firmly  fastens  it  to  the 
twig  and  to  its  neighbor,  and  which,  upon  becoming  dry, 
forms  a  net-work  of  brown  over  the  pale  egg-shell. 
These  eggs  are  so  regularly  laid  and  so  closely  glued  to 
each  other,  and  the  sides  are  often  so  appressed,  that  the 
moth  economizes  space  almost  as  effectually  as  does  the 
Honey-bee  in  the  formation  of  its  hexagonal  cells. 

The  eggs  are  deposited,  in  the  latitude  of  St.  Louis, 
during  the  latter  part  of  June.  The  embryo  develops 
during  the  hot  summer  weather  and  the  yet  unborn  larva 


OF  THE   FABM  AND   GARDEN.  157 

is  fully  formed  by  the  time  winter  comes  on.  They  hatch 
with  the  first  warm  weather,  in  spring — generally  from 
the  middle  to  the  last  of  March — and  though  the  buds  of 
their  food-plant  may  not  have  opened  at  the  time,  and 
though  it  may  freeze  severely  afterwards,  yet  these  little 
creatures  are  wonderfully  hardy,  and  can  fast  for  three 
whole  weeks,  if  need  be,  and  withstand  any  amount  of 
inclement  weather.  The  very  moment  these  little  larvae 
are  born,  they  commence  spinning  a  web  wherever  they 
go.  At  this  time  they  are  black  with  pale  hairs,  and  are 
always  found  either  huddled  together  or  travelling  in  file 
along  the  silken  paths  which  they  form  when  in  search 
of  food.  In  about  two  weeks  from  the  time  they  com- 
mence feeding  fchey  go  through  their  first  moult,  having 
first  grown  paler  or  of  a  light  yellowish-brown,  with  the 
extremities  rather  darker  than  the  middle  of  the  body, 
with  the  little  warts  which  give  rise  to  the  hairs  quite 
distinct,  and  a  conspicuous  dark  interrupted  line  each 
side  of  the  back.  After  the  first  moult,  they  are  charac- 
terized principally  by  two  pale-yellowish  subdorsal  lines, 
which  border  what  was  before  the  dark  line  above  de- 
scribed. After  the  second  moult,  which  takes  place  in 
about  a  week  from  the  first,  the  characteristic  pale  spots 
on  the  back  appear,  the  upper  pale  line  becomes  yellow, 
the  lower  one  white,  and  the  space  between  them  bluish: 
indeed,  the  characters  of  the  mature  larva  are  from  this 
period  apparent.  Very  soon  they  undergo  a  third  moult, 
after  which  the  colors  all  become  more  distinct  and  fresh, 
the  head  and  anal  plate  have  a  soft  bluish  velvety  appear- 
ance, and  the  hairs  seem  more  dense.  After  undergoing 
a  fourth  moult  without  material  change  in  appearance, 
they  acquire  their  full  growth  in  about  six  weeks  from 
the  time  of  first  feeding.  At  this  time  they  appear  as  at 
figure  103. 

At  this  stage  of  its  growth  the  Tent-caterpillar  of  the 
Forest  may  be  seen  wandering  singly  over  diiferent  trees, 


158  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

along  roads,  on  the  tops  of  fences,  etc. ,  in  search  of  a 
suitable  place  to  form  its  cocoon.  It  usually  contents 
itself  with  folding  a  leaf  or  drawing  several  together  for 
this  purpose,  though  it  frequently  spins  up  under  fence 
boards  and  in  other  sheltered  situations.  The  cocoon  is 
much  like  that  of  the  common  Tent-caterpillar,  being 
formed  of  a  loose  exterior  covering  of  white  silk  with  the 
hairs  of  the  larva  interwoven,  and  by  a  more  compact 
oval  inner  pod  that  is  made  stiff  by  the  meshes  being 
filled  with  a  thin  yellowish  paste  from  the  mouth  of  the 
larva,  which  paste,  when  dried,  gives  the  cocoon  the  ap- 
pearance of  being  dusted  with  powdered  sulphur.  Three 
days  after  the  cocoon  is  completed  the  caterpillar  casts 
its  skin  for  the  last  time  and  becomes  a  chrysalis  of  a  red- 


Fig.  103. — TENT-CATERPILLAR  OF  THE  FOREST. 

dish-brown  color,  slightly  dusted  with  a  pale  powder,  and 
densely  clothed  with  short  pale  yellow  hairs,  which  at 
the  blunt  and  rounded  extremity  are  somewhat  larger  and 
darker.  In  a  couple  of  weeks  more,  or  during  the  fore- 
part of  June,  the  moths  commence  to  issue,  and  fly  about 
at  night.  This  moth  (fig.  102,  #,  female),  bears  a  consid- 
erable resemblance  to  that  of  the  Common  Tent-caterpil- 
lar (fig.  101),  being  of  a  brownish  yellow  or  rusty  brown, 
and  having  two  oblique  transverse  lines  across  the  front 
wings.  It  differs,  however,  in  the  color  being  paler  or 
more  yellowish,  especially  on  the  thorax;  in  the  space  be- 
tween the  oblique  lines  being  usually  darker  instead  of 
lighter  than  that  on  either  side;  but  principally  in  the 
oblique  lines  themselves  being  dark  instead  of  light,  and 
in  a  transverse  shade,  often  quite  distinct,  across  the 
hind  wings.  As  in  C.  Americana,  the  male  is  smaller 


OF  THE   FAKM   AND   GARDEN.  159 

than  the  female,  with  the  wings  shorter  and  cut  off  more 
squarely.  Considerable  variation  may  be  found  in  a  given 
number  of  moths,  but  principally  in  the  space  between 
the  oblique  lines  on  the  front  wings  being  either  of  the 
same  shade  as  the  rest  of  the  wing,  or  in  its  being  much 
darker;  but  as  we  have  found  these  variations  in  different 
individuals  of  the  same  brood,  bred  either  from  Ap- 
ple, Oak,  Hickory,  or  Rose,  they  evidently  have  nothing 
to  do  with  the  food-plant.  The  scales  on  the  wings  are 
very  loosely  attached,  and  rub  off  so  readily  that  good 
specimens  of  the  moth  are  seldom  captured  at  large 

THE   LARVA   SPINS   A   WEB. 

From  the  very  moment  it  is  born  until  after  the  fourth 
or  last  moult,  this  caterpillar  spins  a  web  and  lives  more 
or  less  in  company;  but  from  the  fact  that  this  web  is 
always  attached  close  to  the  branches  and  trunks  of  the 
trees  infested,  it  is  often  overlooked,  and  several  writers 
have  falsely  declared  that  it  does  not  spin.  At  each  suc- 
cessive moult  all  the  individuals  of  a  batch  collect  and 
huddle  together  upon  a  common  web  for  two  or  three 
days,  and  during  these  periods — though  more  active  than 
most  caterpillars  in  this  so-called  sickness — they  are  quite 
sluggish.  During  the  last  or  fourth  moult  they  very 
frequently  come  low  down  on  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  and, 
unwittingly  court  destruction  by  collecting  in  masses 
within  man's  reach. 

REMEDIES. — From  their  birth  until  after  the  third 
moult  these  worms  will  drop  and  suspend  themselves  in 
mid-air,  if  the  branch  upon  which  they  are  feeding  be 
suddenly  jarred.  Therefore  when  they  have  been  allowed 
to  multiply  in  an  orchard  this  habit  will  suggest  various 
modes  of  destroying  them.  Again,  as  already  stated,  they 
can  often  be  slaughtered  en  masse  when  collected  on  the 
trunks  during  the  last  moulting  period.  They  will  more 


160  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

generally  be  found  on  the  leeward  side  of  the  tree  if  the 
wind  has  been  blowing  in  the  same  direction  for  a  few 
days.  The  cocoons  may  also  be  searched  for,  and  many 
of  the  moths  caught  by  attracting  them  towards  the  light. 
But  the  most  effective  artificial  mode  of  preventing  this 
insect's  injuries  is  to  search  for  and  destroy  the  egg- 
masses  in  the  winter  time  when  the  trees  are  leafless. 

SUMMARY. 

The  Tent-caterpillar  of  the  Forest  differs  from  the 
common  Orchard  Tent-caterpillar  principally  in  its  egg- 
mass  being  docked  off  squarely  instead  of  being  rounded 
at  each  end;  in  its  larva  having  a  row  of  spots  along  the 
back  instead  of  a  continuous  narrow  line,  and  in  its  moth 
having  the  color  between  the  oblique  lines  on  the  front 
wings  as  dark  or  else  darker,  instead  of  ligh  fcer  than  the 
rest  of  the  wing.  It  feeds  on  a  variety  of  both  orchard 
and  forest  trees;  makes  a  web  which,  from  its  being  usu- 
ally fastened  close  to  the  tree,  is  often  overlooked;  is  very 
destructive,  and  is  most  easily  fought  in  the  egg  state. 


THE    FALL    WEB-WORM. 
(Hyphantria  textor,  Harris.) 

The  appearance  of  webs,  or  "tents,"  upon  fruit  and 
other  trees  in  late  summer  and  early  autumn,  has  caused 
many  to  suppose  that  there  was  a  second  brood  of  the 
Tent-caterpillar.  These  late  webs  belong  to  a  very  dif- 
ferent insect,  which  lays  her  eggs  in  a  cluster  upon  a 
leaf  near  the  end  of  a  twig,  and  the  young  caterpillars, 
like  those  of  the  true  tent-makers,  begin  to  spin  as  soon 
as  hatched;  and  as  they  feed  and  spin  in  company,  the 
web  formed  by  their  united  efforts  soon  becomes  con- 


OF  THE  FARM  AND  GARDEH.          161 

spicuous.  The  worms  descend  the  branches,  devouring 
the  pulpy  portions  of  the  leaves  upon  them,  and  form  a 
web  as  they  go.  When  they  have  made  their  growth,  the 
caterpillars  descend  to  the  ground,  where,  just  beneath 
the  surface,  they  enter  the  pupa  state;  the  next  summer 
they  issue  as  pure  white  moths,  to  lay  eggs  for  another 
brood.  The  worm,  or  caterpillar,  is  of  a  general  pale- 
yellow  color,  with  a  broad  dusky  stripe  along  the  back, 
and  a  yellow  stripe  along  each  side,  and  they  have  nu- 
merous whitish  hairs.  While  the  Fall  Web-worm  often 
attacks  the  Apple  and  other  fruit  trees,  it  does  not  con- 
fine itself  to  the  orchard,  but  its  webs  may  be  seen  in 
autumn  upon  various  kinds  of  trees,  as  well  as  on  shrubs. 
The  only  remedy  is  to  destroy  the  web  wherever  it  may 
be  seen;  and  as  the  worms  never  leave  the  nest,  this  is 
quite  sure  to  be  effective. 

THE    APPLE-WORM—CODLING    MOTH. 
(Carpocapsa  pomonella,  Linn.) 

This  is  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  insects  of  the 
orchard,  in  view  of  the  great  loss  it  annually  causes. 
While  all  those  who  eat  apples  have  seen  its  work,  a  bur- 
rowing at  the  core  of  the  fruit  and  an  abundant  deposit 
of  excrement,  very  few,  even  among  fruit  growers,  have 
seen  the  perfect  insect,  which  is  a  small  moth.  Like 
most  of  our  worm  insect  foes,  it  was  originally  a  denizen 
of  the  Old  World,  having  been  introduced  into  this 
country  only  about  the  beginning  of  the  present  cen- 
tury. Twenty  years  ago  it  was  unknown  in  Illinois; 
and  it  is  only  within  the  last  eight  or  ten  years  that  it 
has  penetrated  into  Iowa. 

The  Apple-worm  moth  makes  its  appearance  in  North 
Illinois  from  the  last  of  May  to  the  forepart  of  June,  and 
a  little  earlier  or  later  according  to  the  season  and  the 


162  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

latitude.  Usually,  at  the  time  it  appears,  the  young  ap- 
ples are  already  set,  and  begimiing  to  be  about  as  large  as 
a  hazel-nut.  After  coupling  in  the  usual  manner,  the 
female  moth  then  proceeds  to  deposit  a  single  egg  in  the 
blossom  end  of  the  fruit,  flying  from  fruit  to  fruit  until 
her  stock  of  eggs  (amounting  to  probably  two  or  three 
hundred)  is  exhausted.  Not  long  after  accomplishing 
this  process  she  dies  of  old  age  and  exhaustion.  In  a 
short  time  afterwards  the  egg,  no  matter  where  it  is 
located,  hatches  out,  and  the  young  larva  forthwith  pro- 


Fig.  104.— APPLE-WORM— CODLING  MOTH  (Carpocapsa  pomonella,  Linn.) 
Perfect  Insect ;  Larva  and  its  work ;  Pupa  at  the  lower  right-hand  side. 

ceeds  to  burrow  into  the  flesh  of  the  apple,  feeding  as 
it  goes,  but  making  its  head-quarters  in  the  core.  In 
three  or  four  weeks  time  it  is  full  grown,  and  shortly 
before  this,  the  infested  apple  generally  falls  to  the 
ground.  The  larva  then  crawls  out  of  the  fruit  through 
a  large  hole  in  the  cheek,  which  it  has  bored  several 
days  beforehand  for  that  express  purpose,  and  usually 
makes  for  the  trunk  of  the  tree,  up  which  it  climbs,  and 
spins  around  itself  a  silken  cocoon  of  a  dirty-white  color, 
in  any  convenient  crevice  it  can  find,  the  crotch  of  the 
tree  being  a  favorite  spot.  Here  it  transforms  into  the 


OF  THE  FARM  AND  GARDEN.  163 

pupa  state;  and,  towards  the  latter  end  of  July  or  the 
forepart  of  August,  bursts  forth  in  the  moth  state.  The 
different  stages  in  the  life  of  this  insect  are  given  in 
figure  104.  The  channel  made  by  the  young  larva  in 
reaching  the  core,  and  the  cavity  it  makes  in  feeding 
there,  are  shown.  At  the  upper  right  hand  the  full 
grown  larva  is  given,  and  at  the  lower,  right-hand  the 
pupa.  At  the  left-hand  side  the  perfect  insect  is  shown, 
with  its  wings  open  and  closed.  The  moth  is  distin- 
guished from  all  other  moths  by  a  patch  of  coppery  scales 
at  the  tip  of  its  front  wings. 

The  infested  fruit  does  not  always  drop  when  the 
borer  leaves  it;  seeks  a  place  in  which  to  undergo  its 
changes,  and  in  from  ten  to  fifteen  days  a  second  brood 
of  moths  issues,  and  the  fruit  is  re- stocked  with  larvae. 
The  second  brood  do  not  issue  as  moths  until  the  next 
spring,  many  of  the  larvae  of  the  late  brood  do  not  leave 
the  apples  until  they  are  harvested,  and  undergo  their 
changes  in  the  cellar. 

EEMEDIES. — The  utility  of  pasturing  swine  in  the  or- 
chard is  generally  admitted  and  did  all  the  infested  ap- 
ples fall  would  be  more  than  the  partial  remedy  that  it 
it  now  is.  Acting  upon  the  fact  that  many  of  the  worms 
after  leaving  the  fallen  fruit  seek  a  place  of  concealment 
upon  the  trunk  in  which  to  pupate,  Codling-moth  traps 
have  been  invented,  and  some  have  been  patented.  One 
of  the  most  effective  traps  is  a  strip  of  carpet  or  other 
coarse  woollen  fabric,  about  five  inches  wide  and  long 
enough  to  go  around  the  tree;  this  is  fastened  by  a  few 
tacks,  which  should  not  be  driven  home,  as  they  need  to 
be  removed.  These  strips  are  examined  every  ten  days 
and  the  insects  killed.  In  large  orchards  the  killing  is 
expedition  sly  done  by  running  the  cloths  between  the 
rollers  of  a  clothes  wringer.  Fruit  cellars,  and  any 
empty  boxes  or  barrels  they  may  contain,  should  be  ex- 
amined before  May  for  concealed  pupae. 


164  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

THE   APPLE-MAGGOT. 
(Trypeta  pomonella,  Walsh.) 

Besides  the  well-known  Apple-worm,  or  Codling-moth, 
there  is  in  some  localities,  especially  in  the  older  States, 
the  Apple-maggot.  It  differs  from  the  Codling-moth  in 
many  respects  ;  the  parent  insect  is  not  a  moth,  but  one 
of  the  two-winged  flies.  It  is  not,  like  the  other,  an 


Fig.  105.— APPLE-MAGGOT  (Trypeta  ponwndla,  Walsh.) 
Perfect  Insect ;  Larva  and  its  burrows ;  Pupa. 

imported  insect,  but  a  native  which  has  long  inhabited 
our  wild  apples  and  the  haws,  or  fruit  of  our  thorns,  and 
is  found  in  cultivated  fruit,  here  and  there,  all  over  the 
country.  Figure  105  shows  an  infested  apple,  and  the 
insect  in  its  different  stages,  the  perfect  fly,  with  its 
transparent  wings,  being  shown  above,  while  the  maggot 
and  pupa  are  given  below.  The  excavations  in  the  apple 
show  that  the  larvae  enter  at  no  particular  place,  and  do 
not,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Codling-moth,  seek  the  core. 
The  destruction  of  the  infested  fruit  by  feeding  it  to 
pigs,  or  making  it  into  cider,  are  among  the  obvious 
means  of  prevention. 


OF  THE   FARM  AND   GARDEN. 


165 


THE    APPLE    CURCULIO. 
(Anthonomus  quadrigibbus,  Say.) 

Some  have  stated  that  the  common  Plum  Curculio 
will  also  attack  young  Apples;  however  this  may  be, 
there  is,  in  several  of  the  Western  States,  and  in  Canada, 
a  Curculio  which  has  long  infested  the  native  Crab 
Apples,  and  has,  in  many  cases,  learned  to  prefer  the 
cultivated  to  the  wild  fruit.  A  comparison  of  the  en- 
graving of  this  insect  (fig. 
106),  with  that  of  the 
Plum  Curculio,  given  on  a 
subsequent  page,  will  at 
once  show  striking  differ- 
ence. In  the  first  place, 
there  is  the  greater  length 
of  snout,  which  is  carried 
extended  in  front;  then 
the  marked  widening  of 
the  body  behind,  serves 
also  to  distinguish  it. 
It  has  four  conspicuous  lumps  on  the  wing-cases  at 
the  rear,  from  which  it  takes  its  specific  name.  It  varies 
from  one-twentieth,  to  one- twelfth  of  an  inch  in  length. 
It  is  of  a  rusty-brown  color,  and  the  thorax,  and  often 
the  forward  third  of  the  wing-covers  ash-gray. 

The  insect  deposits  its  egg  in  an  opening  made  in  the 
skin  of  the  fruit;  the  larva  when  hatched  goes  to  the 
core,  and  there  feeds,  producing  much  excrement,  for 
nearly  a  month,  and  then  assumes  the  pupa  state  within 
the  fruit,  which  does  not  fall;  in  two  or  three  weeks  it 
appears  as  a  perfect  beetle.  In  Missouri  and  Southern 
Illinois,  this  insect  often  does  much  damage  to  the  Apple 
crop,  and  probably  it  is  abundant  in  other  States,  where 
its  work  has  been  attributed  to  other  insects.  In  several 


Fig.  106.— A.PPLE  CURCULIO  (Antho- 

nomus  quadrigibbus,  Say.) 

a,  Real  size ;  ft,  Side  view ;   c,  Back  view, 

both  enlarged. 


166  IKJURIOUS  INSECTS 

cases  it  has  been  known  to   attack  Pears  as  well  as 
Apples. 

EEMEDIES. — It  is  not  probable  that  much  can  be  done 
with  jarring  down  this  insect,  as  advised  for  the  Plurn 
Curculio,  as  it  is  not  like  that  easily  alarmed.  So  far 
as  known,  it  can  only  be  attacked  while  within  the  fruit. 
Shaking  or  jarring  the  tree  may  be  useful  in  bringing 
down  the  infested  apples,  which  should  be  at  once  fed  to 
swine,  or  otherwise  destroyed. 

THE    CANKER-WORM. 
(Anisopteryx  vernata,  Peck.) 

The  greatest  injury  done  by  Canker-worms  is  to  Apple- 
trees,  but  it  also  attacks  other  fruit  trees,  and  often 
injures  shade  trees,  especially  the 
Elm,  which  in  some  localities  it 
completely  defoliates.  The  male 
moth  (fig.  107)  has  an  expanse 
of  wings  of  about  an  inch  and  a 
quarter;  the  wings  are  very  thin 
Fig.  107.— MALE  CANKER-  and  silky,  the  fore- wings  ash- 

WOKM — MOTH  (Anisopteryx         n         -i        •,-,  ,,  ,      ,    -..   .. 

vernata,  Peck.)  colored,  with  a  small  but  distinct 

whitish   spot  on  the  front  edge, 

near  the  tip ;  the  hind  wings  are  pale  ash-colored. 
The  female  (fig.  108)  is  entirely  wingless  and  of 
a  general  ash-gray  color.  Being  without  wings,  she 
can  only  reach  the  branches  of  the  tree  to  deposit  her 
eggs,  by  crawling  up  the  trunk,  which  she  does  very  early 
in  the  spring;  in  mild  weather  even  in  February.  The 
eggs  are  deposited  in  clusters  of  one  hundred  or  more  on 
the  bark  of  the  branches  and  twigs,  and  may  often  be 
found  on  the  inside  of  the  loose  scales  of  the  bark.  "When 
the  leaves  first  begin  to  make  their  appearance,  these  eggs 
hatch  into  tiny  Span-worms,  scarcely  visible  to  the 
naked  eye,  but  they  grow  rapidly,  and  in  three  or  four 


OF  THE  FARM  AHD  GARDEN.  167 

weeivs  have  attained  their  full  size — about  an  inch  in 
length,  when  they  cease  eating,  and  let  themselves  down 
by  a  silken  thread  and  enter  the  ground,  where  they  soon 
become  chrysalids,  in  which  state  they  remain  all  through 
the  summer  and  fall,  and  usually  until  the  following  spring, 
when  they  emerge  as  moths.  The  fact  that  the  female 
moth  is  wingless  makes  it  a  comparatively  easy  matter 
to  keep  these  Canker-worms  in  check,  for  the  parent 
moth  is  obliged  to  crawl  up  the  trunk  of  the  tree  to 
deposit  her  eggs,  and  if  she  can  be  prevented  from  doing 
this,  of  course  she  must  lay  her  eggs  below  the  obstruc- 
tion, where  they  can  be  easily  destroyed. 

Dr.  William  Le  Baron  gives  the  following  remedies 
in  his  Second  Illinois  Eeport: 

"1st.  Prevent  the  passage  of  the  moths  up  the  trees. 
The  most  approved  plan  heretofore  used  is 
to  put  a  canvas  or  other  cloth  band,  six 
inches  or  more  in  width,  around  the  trunk 
and  besmear  it  with  tar,  or  a  mixture  of 
tar  and  molasses,  applied  every  other  day. 
The  method  suggested  in  this  Eeport  is 
to  put  a  band  of  rope  or  closely  twisted  hay 
around  the  trunk,  and  over  this  a  tin  band 
about  four  inches  wide,  so  placed  that  the  rope  shall  be 
at  the  middle  of  the  tin,  making  a  closed  cavity  below, 
and  a  free  edge  of  tin  above.  The  time  to  use  these 
appliances  is  mostly  in  the  month  of  March,  but  also  at 
other  times  when  the  weather  is  sufficiently  open  to 
permit  the  insects  to  run. 

"  2nd.  If  the  jnoths  are  prevented  from  ascending  the 
tree,  they  will  deposit  their  eggs  below  the  obstruction, 
and  for  the  most  part  near  to  it.  These  eggs  can  be 
destroyed  by  a  single  application  of  kerosene  oil. 

"  3rd.  If  the  moths  are  not  prevented  from  ascending 
the  tree,  they  will  deposit  their  eggs  mostly  upon  the 
underside  of  the  scales  of  bark,  on  the  upper  part  of 


168  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

the  trunk  and  larger  branches.  Many  of  these  can  be 
destroyed  by  scraping  off  and  burning  the  scales. 

"  4th.  If  all  precautions  have  been  neglected  and  the 
eggs  have  been  permitted  to  hatch,  then,  as  soon  as  the 
worms  are  large  enough  to  be  easily  seen,  jar  them  from 
the  trees  and  sweep  them  away  with  a  pole,  as  they  hang 
by  their  threads,  and  burn  or  otherwise  destroy  them. 

"  5th.  If  the  worms  have  matured  and  gone  into  the 
ground  for  winter  quarters,  plow  the  ground  late  in  the 
fall,  so  as  to  expose  the  pupae  to  frost,  and  to  the  action 
of  natural  enemies." 

The  rope  and  tin  bands  mentioned  in  the  first  para- 
graph are  deserving  of  particular  attention,  as  they  have 
been  found  to  be  an  almost  perfect  barrier  to  the  ascent  of 
the  moths.  The  method  of  putting  on  these  bands  is  very 
simple.  Take  a  piece  of  inch  rope — old  worn  out  rope  is 
as  good  as  new — tack  one  end  to  the  trunk,  two 
feet  or  less  from  the  ground,  with  a  shingle  nail,  driven 
in  so  that  the  head  shall  not  project  beyond  the  level  of 
the  rope.  Bring  the  rope  around  the  tree,  and  let  it  lap 
by  the  beginning  an  inch  or  two,  cut  it  off  and  fasten  it 
in  the  same  manner.  Get  the  tinman  to  cut  up  some 
sheets  of  tin  into  strips  four  inches  wide  and  fasten  them 
together  endwise,  so  that  they  shall  be  long  enough  to  go 
around  the  trees  over  the  rope  band,  having  the  rope  at 
the  middle.  Let  the  ends  of  the  tin  lap  a  little,  punch 
a  hole  through  them  and  fasten  them  with  a  nail  driven 
through  the  tin  and  rope  into  the  tree.  The  result  of 
this  contrivance  is,  that  the  moths  congregate  below  the 
obstruction,  and  sometimes  pile  up  so  as  to  go  over  on 
the  tin.  But  when  they  reach  the  upper  edge  of  the  tin 
they  go  round  and  round  until  they  become  discouraged! 
A  great  deal  of  ingenuity  has  been  displayed  in  the  con- 
trivance of  barriers  of  various  kinds  for  preventing  the 
female  Canker-worm  moth  from  ascending  the  trees.  A 
pin-maker  in  Connecticut  made  a  barrier  of  several  rows 


OF  THE   FARM   AHD   GARDEN.  169 

of  pins  thrust  through  a  rubber  band;  this  was  to  be  put 
around  the  trunk  with  the  points  of  the  pins  outward. 
Other  devices  consist  of  troughs  of  sheet  lead  to  surround 
the  trunk,  with  a  channel  in  which  some  kind  of  oil  may 
be  placed.  In  all  such  cases  the  simplest  methods  are 
the  best.  In  New  Haven  and  other  New  England  places, 
which  pride  themselves  upon  their  fine  elms,  trees 
which  the  Canker-worm  particularly  infests,  the  chief 
reliance  is  upon  bands  of  thick  paper  placed  around  the 
trunks;  this  has  placed  upon  it  a  barrier  of  pine  tar  or  of 
old  printer's-ink.  Whatever  barrier  is  used,  it  requires 
frequent  attention.  All  liquids  like  oil,  or  viscid  materi- 
als like  tar,  etc.,  may  be  covered  by  blowing  dust,  leaves, 
etc.,  to  form  a  bridge  across  them;  indeed  the  insects 
themselves,  being  arrested,  often  form  a  bridge  with  their 
dead  bodies  for  the  passage  of  their  successors,  and 
during  the  season  such  barriers  should  be  daily  looked  to 
and  renewed  if  necessary. 

It  may  be  added  that  some  orchardists,  instead  of  using 
preventive  measures,  allow  the  insects  to  deposit  their 
eggs  on  the  trees,  and  then,  when  the  caterpillars  begin 
their  work  upon  the  foliage,  destroy  them  by  the  use  of 
Paris  Green  mixed  with  water,  and  thrown  into  the  trees 
by  means  of  a  force-pump. 


NOTE. — While  the  foregoing  insects  attack  the  Apple 
in  preference  to  other  fruit  trees,  they  are  occasionally, 
as  mentioned  under  each,  injurious  to  other  trees. 
When  we  recollect  that  all  our  fruit  trees  belong  to  the 
same  botanical  family  (the  Rosacece),  it  will  not  be  sur- 
prising to  find  an  insect  attacking  several  different  trees 
indiscriminately.  This  large  family  is  divided  by  botan- 
ists into  several  sub-families,  one  of  which,  the  Almond 
Sub-family  (Amygdalece),  includes,  what  are  popularly 
8 


170  INJUKIOUS   IKSECTS 

known  as  "  Stone-fruits/' — Peach,  Plum,  Cherry,  etc; 
another,  the  Pear  Sub-family  (Pomece),  includes  the  Ap- 
ple, Pear,  Quince,  etc.,  and  it  is  not  often  that  the  in- 
sects which  prey  upon  one  sub-family  attack  the  other. 
Still  there  are  a  few  general  feeders,  which  are  injurious 
to  nearly  all  fruit  trees,  and  make  it  difficult  to  classify 
insects  according  to  the  trees  upon  which  they  feed. 
The  insects  which  follow,  while  they  also  injure  the 
Apple,  do  not  confine  themselves  to  it;  some  attack  all 
fruit  trees  alike,  while  the  Peach-borer  and  Plum  Curcu- 
lio  restrict  themselves  to  the  stone-fruits. 


THE    RED-HUMPED    CATERPILLAR. 
(Notodonta  continna,  Smith.) 

Young  Apple  and  Pear  trees,  and  sometimes  other 
fruit  trees,  are  frequently  defoliated,  or  have  large 
branches  completely  stripped  of  their  leaves  in  late  sum- 
mer or  early  autumn,  by  the  Red-humped  Caterpillar. 


Fig.  109.— BED-HUMPED  CATERPILLAR.  Fig.  110.— PUPA  OP  RED- 

(Notodonta  concinna,  Smith.)  HUMPED  CATERPILLAR. 

The  eggs  are  usually  deposited  in  July,  in  clusters  on 
the  underside  of  a  leaf  near  the  end  of  a  branch,  and  the 
young  caterpillars  eat  downward,  making  clean  work  of 
the  foliage  as  they  descend.  The  full-grown  caterpillars 
(fig.  109),  are  an  inch  and  a  quarter  long;  the  general 
color  yellowish-brown,  paler  on  the  sides,  and  striped 
length- wise  with  slender  black  lines;  the  head  is  coral- 
red,  and  on  the  top  of  the  fourth  ring  is  a  bunch  or  hump 


OF  THE   FARM  AND   GARDEN. 


171 


of  the  same  brilliant  color;  there  are  several  short  black 
prickles  along  the  top  of  the  back.  The  caterpillar 
tapers  towards  the  tail,  and  this  end  is  always  elevated 
when  it  is  at  rest.  When  full  grown,  all  the  caterpillars 
of  the  same  brood  descend  to  the  ground  at  the  same  time, 
seek  a  hiding  place  under  leaves,  or  just  below  the  sur- 
face of  the  soil,  where  they  form  cocoons,  and  assume 
the  chrysalis  state  (fig.  110),  in  which  they  remain  un- 
til the  following  June,  when  the  perfect  insect  issues 
as  a  small,  neat-looking  moth  of  a  general  light-brown 
color,  the  fore-wings  are  dark-brown  along  the  inner 
margin,  with  a  dark- brown  spot  near  the  middle. 
The  wings  expand  from  an  inch,  to  an  inch  and  three- 
eighths.  If  these  caterpillars  are  noticed  when  first 
hatched,  they  will  be  found  all  near  together,  and  may  be 
readily  destroyed. 

/^V  OF   THE 

THE   TWIGGIRDLER.|ul.rIVEESITI 

(Oncideres  cingulatus,  Say.] 


This  beetle  is  known  to  girdle  a  great  nui 
ferent  trees,  among  which  may  be  men- 
tioned Apple,  Pear,  Peach,  and  Plum, 
Hickory,  Elm,  Persimmon,  and  Ameri- 
can Linden.  Both  sexes  of  the  beetle 
feed  upon  the  bark  of  the  Hickory,  but 
only  the  females,  so  far  as  we  are  aware, 
girdle  the  twigs.  After  partly  girdling 
a  particular  twig  she  lays  a  number  of 
eggs  in  the  upper  portion  that  has  been 
killed,  each  egg  being  usually  inserted 
just  beneath  a  bud.  Figure  111  shows 
the  insect  and  her  work.  The  twig  usu-  F  m  _TWIG_ 
ally,  though  not  always,  breaks  off  by  GIRDLER  ( Oncideres 
the  force  of  the  wind  during  winter,  and 
the  larvae  flourish  upon  the  dead  wood  as  it  lies  upon  the 


172  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

ground,  burrowing  just  beneath  the  bark,  and  when  very 
numerous  leaving  little  else  than  the  outer  bark.  The 
beetles  do  this  work  in  the  fall  of  the  year.  The  young 
larva  hatches  and  works  a  short  distance  into  the  twig 
before  winter  sets  in,  and  continues  working  through 
spring  and  summer,  transforming  to  pupa  only  towards 
autumn.  Some  writers  have  stated  that  two  years  are 
required  for  its  development.  While  this  may  be  true 
farther  north  it  is  not  true  of  the  latitude  of  St.  Louis. 
The  Insect  has  been  found  destructive  in  Pennsylvania, 
Indiana,  and  other  Western  States.  "Wherever  its  prun- 
ings  are  found,  they  should  be  gathered  and  burned. 

NEW   YORK  WEEVIL. 
(Ithyeerus  Noveboracensis,  Forster.) 

This  large  snout-beetle  kills  the  twigs  by  gnawing  off 
the  tender  bark,  in  the  early  part  of  the  season  before  the 
buds  have  put  out,  and  later  in  the  year  it  destroys  the 
tender  shoots  which  start  out  from  old  wood,  by  entirely 
devouring  them.  It  attacks,  by  preference,  the  tender 
growth  of  the  Apple,  though  it  will  also  make  free  with 
that  of  the  Peach,  Plum,  and  Pear,  and  probably  of  other 
fruit  as  well  as  of  forest  trees. 

This  beetle  belongs  to  the  same  family  as  does  the 
Plum  Curculio;  it  is  distinguished  from  most  of  the 
other  snout-beetles  by  the  antennae  or  horns  being 
straight  instead  of  elbowed  or  flail-shaped  as  they  are  in 
the  common  Plum  Curculio,  for  instance.  The  specific 
name  Noveboracensis  which  means  " of  New  York"  was 
given  to  this  beetle  ninety-eight  years  ago,  by  Forster, 
doubtless  because  he  received  his  specimens  from  New 
York.  But  like  many  other  insects  which  have  been 
honored  with  the  name  of  some  Eastern  State,  it  is  far 
more  common  in  the  Mississippi  Valley  than  it  is  in  the 


OP   THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


173 


State  of  New  York,  it  being  scarcely  known  as  an  injuri- 
ous insect  in  the  East.  The  general  color  of  the  beetle 
is  ash-gray,  marked  with  black  as  in  the  cut  (fig.  112,  c), 
and  with  the  scutel  or  small  semi-circular  space  immedi- 
ately behind  the  thorax,  between  the  wings,  of  a  yellow- 
ish color.  Its  larval  habits  were  for  a  long  time  un- 
known, but  it  was  recently  ascertained  that  it  breeds  in 
the  twigs  and  tender  branches  of  the  Bur  Oak;  we  have 
good  reason  to  believe  that  it  also  breeds  in  those  of  the 
Pignut  Hickory.  The  female,  in 
depositing,  first  makes  a  longitudi- 
nal excavation  with  her  jaws  (fig. 
112,  a),  eating  upwards  under  the 
bark  towards  the  end  of  the  branch, 
and  afterwards  turns  round  to 
thrust  her  egg  into  the  excavation. 
The  larva  (fig.  112,  b),  hatching 
from  the  egg  is  of  the  usual  pale- 
yellow  color  with  a  tawny  head. 
We  have  watched  the  whole  opera- 
tion of  depositing,  and,  returning 
to  the  punctured  twig  a  few  days 
after  the  operation  was  performed, 
have  cut  out  the  young  larva;  but 
we  do  not  yet  know  how  long  a 
time  the  larva  needs  to  come  to  its 
growth,  nor  whether  it  undergoes 
its  transformations  within  the  branch,  or  leaves  it  for 
this  purpose,  to  enter  the  ground;  though  the  former 
hypothesis  is  the  most  likely. 

The  same  methods  of  catching  this  beetle  may  be  em- 
ployed as  with  the  Plum  Curculio, 


Fig.  112.— NEW  YORK  WEE- 
VIL (Ithy cents  Novebora- 

censis,  Forster.) 

a,  Puncture  ;  b,  Larva ; 

c,  Beetle. 


174  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

CLIMBING  CUT- WORMS. 

Orchardists  in  spring  frequently  find  the  hearts  of  their 
fruit  buds — on  young  trees  especially — entirely  eaten  out 
and  destroyed,  and  this  circumstance  is  attributed  to  va- 
rious causes,  winged  insects,  beetles,  slugs  for  instance; 
to  birds  or  even  to  late  frosts,  when  probably  the  entire 
mischief  is  caused  by  Cut-worms. 

When  climbing,  Cut-worms  will  crawl  up  a  tree  eight 
or  ten  feet  high,  and  seem  to  like  equally  well  the  leaves 
of  the  Pear,  Apple,  and  Grape. 

They  work  during  the  night,  always  descending  to  the 
earth  again  at  early  dawn,  and  hiding  just  under  its  sur- 
face, which  accounts  for  their  never  having  been  noticed 
in  this  their  work  of  destruction  in  former  years.  They 
seldom  descend  the  tree  as  they  ascend  it,  by  crawling, 
but  drop  from  the  bud  or  leaf  on  which  they  have  been 
feeding;  and  it  is  quite  interesting  to  watch  one  at  early 
morn  when  it  has  become  full  fed  and  the  tender  skin 
seems  ready  to  burst  from  repletion,  and  see  it  prepare 
by  a  certain  twist  of  the  body  for  the  fall. 

"  On  light  soil  they  often  destroy  low-branched  fruit 
trees  of  all  kinds,  except  the  Peach,  feeding  on  the  fruit 
buds  first,  the  wood  buds  as  a  second  choice,  tender  grape 
buds  and  shoots  (to  which  they  are  also  partial),  not  ex- 
cepted;  the  miller  always  prefers  to  lay  her  eggs  near 
the  hill  or  mound  over  the  roots  of  the  trees  in  the  or- 
chard; and  if,  as  is  many  times  the  case,  the  trees  have  a 
spring  dressing  of  lime  or  ashes  with  the  view  of  prevent- 
ing the  May-beetle's  operations,  this  will  be  selected  with 
unerring  instinct  by  the  miller,  thus  giving  her  larvae  a 
fine  warm  bed  to  cover  themselves  up  in  during  the  day 
from  the  observations  of  their  enemies.  They  will  leave 
potatoes,  peas,  and  all  other  green  things  for  the  Apple 
and  Pear.  The  long,  naked  young  trees  of  the  orchard 


OF  THE  FARM  AND  GARDEN.          175 

are  almost  exempt  from  their  voracious  attacks,  but  I  have 
found  them  about  midnight,  of  a  damp  and  dark  night 
well  up  in  the  limbs  of  these.  The  habit  of  the  Dwarf 
Apple  and  Pear  tree,  however,  just  suits  their  natures, 
and  much  of  the  complaint  of  those  people  who  cannot 
make  these  trees  thrive  on  a  sandy  soil,  has  its  founda- 
tion here,  though  apparently  utterly  unknown  to  the 
orchardist.  There  is  no  known  remedy;  salt  has  no 
properties  repulsive  to  them,  they  burrow  in  it  equally  as 
quick  as  in  lime  or  ashes.  Tobacco,  soap  and  other  di- 
luted washes  do  not  even  provoke  them;  but  a  tin  tube 
six  inches  in  length,  opened  on  the  side  and  closed  around 
the  base  of  the  tree,  fitting  close  and  entering  at  the 
lower  end  an  inch  into  the  gre-und,  is  what  the  lawyers 
would  term  an  effectual  estoppel  to  further  proceedings. 

"If  the  dwarf  tree  branches  so  low  from  the  ground 
as  not  to  leave  six  inches  clear  of  trunk  between  the 
limbs  and  ground,  the  limbs  must  be  sacrificed  to  save 
the  tree — as  in  two  nights  four  or  five  of  these  pests  will 
fully  and  effectually  strip  a  four  or  five-year-old  dwarf 
tree  of  every  fruit  and  wood  bud,  and  often  when  the  tree 
is  green,  utterly  denude  it  of  its  foliage.  I  look  upon 
this  Out-worm  as  an  enemy  to  the  orchard  more  fatal 
than  the  Canker-worm,  when  left  to  themselves,  but  for- 
tunately for  mankind  more  surely  headed  off."  J.  W. 
Oochran,  Calumet,  Illinois. 

The  Climbing  Cut-worm  seems  to  prefer  the  Apple, 
Pear,  and  Grape-vine,  though  it  also  attacks  the  Black- 
berry, Easpberry,  Currant,  and  even  Rose-bushes  and 
ornamental  trees. 

The  subject  is  all  important  to  the  orchardist,  and  to 
those  especially  who  have  young  and  newly-planted  trees 
on  a  light  soil;  for  there  are  many  who  have  had  their 
trees  injured  by  the  buds  being  devoured  in  this  manner, 
who  never  dreamed  of  preventing  such  an  occurrence, 
for  the  reason  that  the  mischief  was  attributed  to  birds. 


176  ItfJUBIOUS  INSECTS 

Thus  our  quail,  purple-finch,  and  many  other  birds,  have 
too  often  unjustly  received  the  execrations  of  the  fruit 
culturist,  which  that  evil  genius,  the  Cut-worm,  alone 
deserved.  To  understand  an  enemy's  foible  is  to  have 
conquered,  and  when  we  learn  the  source  of  an  evil 
it  need  exist  no  longer.  The  range  of  these  Climbing 
Cut-worms  seems  to  be  wide,  for  we  have  undoubted 
evidence  of  their  attacking  the  Grape-vine  in  California, 
and  I  have  found  two  species  in  Missouri,  which  have 
the  same  habit.  Climbing  Cut- worms  frequently  have 
the  same  habit  of  severing  plants,  as  those  which  have 
never  been  known  to  climb,  and  I  very  much  incline  to 
believe  that  this  habit  is  only  acquired  in  the  spring  time, 
and  most  Cut-worms  will  mount  trees  if  they  are  forced 
to  do  so,  by  the  absence  of  herbaceous  plants. 

The  Climbing  Cut-worm  (Agrotis  scandens,  Kiley),  has 
a  similar  general  appearance  to  those  which  do  not  climb 
(see  fig.  50,  page  80).  Its  general  color  is  a  very  light 
yellowish-gray,  variegated  with  dirty  bluish-green,  and 
when  filled  with  food  it  wears  a  much  greener  appearance 
than  otherwise.  In  depth  of  shading  it  is  variable,  how- 
ever, and  the  young  worm  is  of  a  more  uniform  dirty 
whitish-yellow,  with  the  lines  along  the  body  less  distinct, 
but  the  shiny  spots  more  so  than  in  the  full  grown  ones. 
Mr.  Cochran  informs  us  that  on  the  Apple  tree,  when 
this  worm  has  fed  out  its  bud,  the  work  is  effectually 
done,  that  no  adventitious  or  accessory  bud  ever  starts 
again  from  the  same  place;  the  worm,  as  it  were,  boring 
into  the  very  heart  of  the  wood  and  effectually  destroy- 
ing the  ability  of  the  tree  to  re-act,  at  such  a  point,  in  the 
formation  of  a  new  bud,  and  that  consequently  a  tree  that 
is  once  stripped  generally  dies,  and  that  this  occurs  more 
frequently  on  small  or  dwarf  trees,  where  the  buds  are 
few,  and  three  or  four  worms  in  a  single  night  can  eat 
out  every  one. 


OF  THE  FARM  AND  GAKD?H.J  JT  T  T7  T?Wc*  T  m 

Vv  O  j\  ^      O^1 

THE    BAG-WORM,    BASKET-WORM,  or    BBOP-WQRM. 

(Thyridopteryx  ephemerceformis,  Haw). 

The  Bag-worm  may  be  regarded  as  a  Southern  rather 
than  a  Northern  insect,  though  it  is  found  as  far  North 
as  the  northern  part  of  New  Jersey. 

It  is  known  to  occur  on  Long  Island,  N.  Y.,  in  New 
Jersey,  Massachusetts,  New  York,  Pennsylvania,  Ohio, 
Maryland,  District  of  Columbia,  the  Carolinas,  Georgia, 
Alabama,  Kentucky,  South  Illinois,  and  South  Missouri. 
Like  the  Canker-worm,  the  Tussock-moth,  and  all  other 
insects  in  which  the  perfect  female  is  wingless,  the  Bag- 
worm  is  extremely  local  in  character,  often  abounding  in 
a  particular  neighborhood,  and  being  totally  unknown  a 
few  miles  away. 

The  clothing  made  by  different  insects,  for  protection 
either  against  the  inclemency  of  the  weather  or  against 
their  enemies,  is  even  more  varied  in  cut  and  make-up, 
than  are  the  divers  costumes  of  the  different  peoples, 
civilized  and  barbarous,  which  inhabit  our  globe.  Some 
insects  live  in  the  interior  of  leaves,  using  the  upper  and 
under  cuticles  as  protection;  some  make  their  coats  out 
of  leaves  themselves;  some  make  cases  of  a  sort  of  gummy 
cement,  while  others  use  cases  of  spun  silk;  but  by  far  the 
greater  number  of  those  which  protect  themselves  at  all, 
employ  silken  cases  which  they  cover  and  disguise  with 
some  other  material.  Thus  lichens,  grass,  rushes,  stones, 
shells,  sand,  wool,  cotton,  hair,  wax,  and  the  bark,  twigs 
and  leaves  of  trees,  are  all  used  for  this  purpose,  while  a 
few  worms  actually  use  their  own  excrement  arranged  on 
the  outside  of  their  cases  with  mathematical  precision; 
unlike  us  mortals,  however,  these  insects  do  not  change 
the  fashion  of  their  dress  with  every  change  of  season, 
but  follow  strictly  the  pattern  used  by  their  ancestors, 
who  cut,  spun,  and  wove,  ages  before  our  primordial 


178  IJSTJUKIOUS   INSECTS. 

mother  sewed  fig-leaves  together.  The  follicle  of  our 
Bag-worm  is  covered  by  the  leaves  and  stems  of  those  trees 
or  shrubs  on  which  it  subsists;  and  when  evergreen  leaves 
are  used^  they  are  often  very  regularly  and  prettily 
arranged  after  the  fashion  of  thatching. 

Throughout  the  winter,  the  weather-beaten  bags  of 
this  insect  may  be  seen  hanging  from  almost  every  kind 
of  tree;  upon  plucking  them  at  that  season  many  of  them 
will  be  found  empty,  but  the  greater  proportion  of  them 
will,  on  being  cut  open,  be  found  partly  full  of  soft  yellow 
eggs.  Those  which  do  not  contain  eggs,  are  the  male 
bags,  and  his  empty  chrysalis  skin  is  generally  found  pro- 
truding from  the  lower  end.  From  the  middle  to  the  end 
of  May.  in  the  latitude  of  St.  Louis,  these  eggs  hatch 
into  little  active  brown  worms,  which,  from  the  first  mo- 
ment of  their  lives,  commence  to  form  for  themselves  cov- 
erings. They  crawl  on  to  a  tender  leaf,  and  attached  by 
the  anterior  legs,  with  their  tails  hoisted  in  the  air,  they 
each  spin  around  themselves  a  ring  of  silk,  to  which  they 
soon  fasten  bits  of  leaf.  They  continue  adding  to  the 
lower  edge  of  the  ring,  pushing  it  up  as  it  increases  in 
depth,  until  it  reaches  the  tail,  and  forms  a  sort  of  cone, 
as  represented  in  fig.  113,  g.  As  the  worms  grow,  they 
continue  to  increase  their  bags  from  the  bottom,  until  the 
latter  become  so  large  and  heavy  that  the  worms  allow 
them  to  hang,  instead  of  holding  them  upright,  as  they 
did  when  they  were  young.  By  the  end  of  July,  the 
worms  acquire  their  full  growth,  when  they  present  the 
appearance  of  figure  113,  /.  At  this  stage,  on  being 
pulled  out  of  its  bag,  or  follicle,  the  worm  appears  as  at 
fig.  113,  a,  that  portion  of  the  body  which  is  always 
covered  by  the  bag,  being  soft,  and  of  a  dull,  smoky- 
brown,  inclining  to  reddish  at"  the  sides;  while  the  three 
anterior,  or  thoracic  segments,  which  are  exposed  when 
the  insect  is  feeding  or  marching,  are  horny,  and  mottled 
with  black  and  white.  The  prolegs  on  the  hidden  part 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GAKDEK. 


179 


of  the  body  are  but  poorly  developed,  and  consist  of  but 
slight  wart-like  projections;  they  are  furnished,  however, 
with  numerous  small  hooks,  which  answer  an  admirable 
purpose,  in  enabling  the  bearer  to  cling  to  his  home-spun 
coat,  which  shelters  him  from  the  weather,  and  defends 
him  from  his  enemies,  and  which  is  even  more  essential 
to  his  existence  than  are  the  clothes  we  wear  to  ours. 
The  worms  do  not  arrive  at  their  full-grown  condition 
without  passing  through  critical  periods.  At  four  dif- 
ferent times  during  their  growth  they  close  up  the  mouth 


Fig.  113.— BAG,   BASKET,   OR  DROP-WORM. 

(Thyridopteryx  epTiemerceformis,  Haw.) 

a,  Larva ;  6,  Chrysalis ;   c,  Female ;  d,  Male;  <?,  Female  bag  opened ;  /,  The  Worm 
and  its  Bag ;  ,g,  The  Young. 

of  their  bags,  and  retire  for  two  days  to  cast  their  skins 
or  moult,  as  is  the  nature  of  their  kind,  and  they  push 
their  old  skins  through  a  passage  which  is  always  left 
open  at  the  extremity  of  the  bag,  and  which  also  allows 
them  to  throw  out  their  excrement. 

During  their  growth  they  are  very  slow  travellers,  and 
seldom  leave  the  tree  on  which  they  were  born;  but 
when  full  grown,  they  become  quite  restless;  and  it  is  at 


180  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

this  time  that  they  wander  in  the  day  time,  dropping  on 
persons  by  their  silken  threads,  and  crossing  the  side- 
walks of  our  cities  in  all  directions.  It  is  from  this  habit 
of  dropping  upon  persons,  that  they  have  been  called 
"  Drop- worms."  A  wise  instinct  urges  them  to  thus 
wander  from  place  to  place,  for,  did  they  remain  on  the 
tree,  they  would  soon  multiply  beyond  the  power  of  that 
tree  to  sustain  them,  and  would  in  consequence  become 
extinct.  When  they  have  lost  their  migratory  desires, 
they  fasten  their  bag  very  securely  by  a  strong  band  of 
silk  to  the  twigs  of  the  tree  on  which  they  happen  to  be. 
Here  again  a  strange  instinct  leads  them  to  thus  fasten 
their  cocoons  to  the  twigs  only  of  the  tree  they  inhabit,  so 
that  these  cocoons  will  remain  through  the  winter;  and  not 
to  the  leaf  stalk,  where  they  would  be  blown  down  with  the 
leaf.  After  thus  fastening  their  bags,  they  line  them  with 
a  good  thickness  of  soft  white  silk,  and  after  turning 
around  in  the  bag  so  as  to  have  the  head  towards  the 
lower  orifice,  they  rest  awhile  from  their  labors,  and  at 
last  cast  their  skins,  and  become  chrysalids.  Hitherto 
the  worms  had  all  been  alike  in  appearance,  but  now 
the  sexes  are  distinguishable,  the  male  chrysalis  (fig.  113, 
b),  being  but  half  the  size  of  that  of  the  female,  and  ex- 
hibiting the  encased  wings,  legs,  and  antennae,  as  in  all 
ordinary  chrysalids,  while  hers  show  no  signs  of  any  such 
members  (see  inside  of  bag  at  e).  Three  weeks  after- 
wards, a  still  greater  change  takes  place,  the  sexes  differ- 
entiating still  more.  The  male  chrysalis  works  himself 
down  to  the  end  of  his  bag,  and,  hanging  half-way  out, 
the  skin  bursts,  and  the  moth  (fig.  113,  d),  with  a  black 
body  and  glassy  wings,  escapes,  and,  when  his  wings  are 
dry,  soars  through  the  air  to  seek  his  mate,  who  is  not 
blessed  with  wings,  but  is  an  abortive  affair,  with  the 
head  and  general  appearance  of  the  larva,  but  still 
more  degraded,  since  she  has  not  even  the  legs  which 
it  possessed;  she  is,  in  fact,  a  naked,  yellowish  bag 


OF  THE   FAEM   AND   GAKDEN.  181 

of  eggs,    with  a  ring  of  soft,  light-brown,  silky  hair 
near  the  tail.     (See  fig.  113,  c). 

The  female  never  withdraws  herself  entirely  from  the 
pupa  shell,  but  holds  on  to  it  by  her  terminal  segments, 
being  evidently  assisted  by  the  ring  of  woolly  hair  already 
referred  to.  Thus,  with  the  pupa  shell  extended  to  its 
utmost  capacity,  and  the  additional  length  of  her  whole 
body,  she  is  enabled  to  reach  to  the  lower  orifice  of  the 
follicle,  where  she  pertinently  awaits  the  male,  and  after 
meeting  him,  works  herself  back  into  the  pupa  shell. 
Here  she  deposits  her  eggs  in  the  upper  part,  interming- 
ling them,  and  crowding  the  lower  part  of  the  puparium 
with  the  peculiar  fawn-colored  down  already  referred  to. 
After  having  thus  cosily  secured  her  eggs  against  the 
winter's  blasts,  she  works  herself  out  and  drops  ex- 
hausted to  the  ground. 

This  insect  is  a  general  feeder,  for  it  occurs  alike  on 
evergreen  and  deciduous  trees.  We  have  found  it  on 
the  Apple,  Plum,  Cherry,  Quince,  Pear,  Red  and  White 
Elms,  the  common  Black  and  Honey  Locusts,  Lombardy 
Poplar,  Catalpa,  Norway  Spruce,  Arbor-vitae,  Osage 
Orange,  Soft  and  Silver  Maples,  Sycamore,  Linden, 
and  above  all,  on  the  Red  Cedar,  while  Mr.  Glover  has 
also  found  it  on  the  Cotton  plant  in  Georgia.  We  have 
even  seen  the  bags  attached  to  Raspberry  canes. 

This  insect  is  also  exceedingly  hardy  and  vigorous,  and 
the  young  worms  will  at  first  make  their  bags  of  almost 
any  substance  upon  which  they  happen  to  rest,  when 
newly  hatched.  They  will  construct  them  of  leather, 
paper,  straw,  cork,  wood,  or  of  any  other  material  which 
is  sufficiently  soft  to  allow  of  their  gnawing  it,  and  it  is 
quite  amusing  to  watch  their  operations. 

REMEDIES. — How  often  does  the  simple  knowledge  of 
an  insect's  habits  and  transformations,  give  the  clue  to  its 
easy  destruction!  From  the  foregoing  account  of  the 
Bag-worm,  it  becomes  obvious,  that  by  plucking  and 


182  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

burning  the  cases  in  winter,  the  trees  can  be  easily  rid  of 
them.  If  this  is  done  whenever  the  first  few  bags  are 
observed,  the  task  of  plucking  is  light;  but  where  it  is 
not  so  done,  the  worms  will  continue  to  increase,  and 
partly  defoliating  the  tree  each  year,  slowly,  but  surely, 
sap  its  life. 

THE   SLUG   OF   THE    PEAR   AND   CHERRY   TREE. 
(Sdandria  cerasi,  Peck.) 

In  New  England,  in  June  and  July,  there  appears  upon 
the  leaves  of  the  Pear  and  Cherry  dark-green  slimy 
creatures,  so  unlike  caterpillars  in  general  that  they  have 
received  the  popular  name  of  slug.  When  grown,  they 
are  nearly  half  an  inch  (9/20)  long;  being  largest  before 
and  tapering  behind,  they  have  something  of  a  tadpole 
appearance;  the  head  is  concealed  under  the  fore-part  of 
the  body,  and  they  usually  have  the  tail  somewhat  turned 
up  when  at  rest.  Their  color  is  a  dark-blackish  or  bot- 
tle-green, and  they  exude  from  their  skins  a  slimy  matter 
which  forms  a  shining  trail  wherever  they  move.  They 
eat  away  the  pulpy  substance  of  the  leaf,  completely 
skeletonizing  it;  and  as  there  are  sometimes  as  many  as 
twenty  or  more  on  a  single  leaf,  they  may  do  much  injury 
by  defoliating  the  tree,  and  causing  leaves  to  push  out 
from  the  buds  prepared  for  next  season.  When  present 
in  large  numbers,  they  give  off  an  unpleasant  odor, 
which  may  be  noticed  at  some  distance  from  the  trees. 
It  takes  these  slugs  about  twenty-six  days  to  complete 
their  growth,  and  after  their  final  moult,  they  no  longer 
have  their  slug-like  appearance,  but,  as  clean  yellow 
caterpillars,  leave  the  trees,  and  entering  the  ground  for 
a  few  inches,  form  an  oval  earthen  cocoon,  in  which  they 
become  chrysalids,  and  at  the  end  of  sixteen  days  come 
out  in  their  perfect  state,  that  of  a  fly  of  the  order  Hy- 


OF  THE  FARM  AND  GARDEN.  183 

menoptera.  The  female  fly  is  slightly  over  one-fifth  of 
an  inch  long,  the  male  somewhat  smaller,  of  a  glossy- 
black,  the  first  two  pairs  of  legs  being  yellowish,  with 
blackish  thighs.  The  transparent  wings  are  iridescent, 
the  front  pair  having  a  smoky  tinge  across  the  middle. 
They  lay  their  eggs  in  little  incisions  made  in  the  skin 
of  the  leaf.  This  insect  is  often  very  injurious  in  the 
older  States,  and  is  extending  westward,  and  is  frequent 
in  Canada. 

KEMEDIES.  —  Dry  air-slaked  lime,  if  sprinkled  from  a 
perforated  tin  vessel,  or  from  a  bag  of  some  open  fabric, 
attached  to  a  pole,  has  been  found  very  effective.  It  has 
been  stated  that  the  action  of  the  lime  is  merely  me- 
chanical, and  that  fine  dust,  such  as  road-dust,  will 
answer  as  well.  The  action  of  the  dust  may  make  the 
slug  uncomfortable  for  awhile,  but  on  shedding  its  skin 
it  soon  gets  rid  of  it,  while  the  lime  soon  kills  the  slug. 
Tobacco-water,  Lime-water,  and  White  Hellebore,  used 
as  directed  under  "Currant-  worm,"  have  been  found  of 
service, 

THE    PEACH-BORER. 
a  exitiosa,  Say.) 


This  borer  is  quite  common,  and  the  greatest  insect 
enemy  with  which  the  Peach  grower  has  to  contend. 

From  the  Round-headed  Apple-Tree  Borer,  to  which 
it  bears  some  resemblance,  both  in  its  mode  of  work,  and 
general  appearance,  it  is  at  once  distinguished  by  having 
six  scaly,  and  ten  fleshy  legs.  It  works  also  more  gen- 
erally under  the  surface  of  the  ground,  and  goes  through 
its  transformations  within  a  year,  though  worms  of  two 
or  three  sizes  may  be  found  at  almost  any  season.  When 
.full  grown,  the  worm  spins  for  itself  a  follicle  of  silk, 
mixed  with  gum  and  excrement,  from  which  in  due  time 


184  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

issues  a  moth.     The  figures  show,  114,  the  male,  and 
115,  the  female.     As  will  be  seen  from  these  engravings, 
the  two  sexes  differ  very  materially  from  each  other,  the 
general  color  in  both  being  glossy  steel-blue. 
This  Borer  also  attacks  the  Plum  Tree,  though  sin- 


Fig.  114.— PEACH-BOEBB— MAI<E.  Fig.  115.— PEACH-BORER— FEMAI^E. 

gularly  enough,  it  causes  no  exudation  of  gum  in  this,  as 
it  does  in  the  Peach  Tree. 

EEMEDIES. — As  the  borer  often  attacks  the  young  trees 
in  the  nursery,  all  trees  before  planting  should  be  care- 
fully examined  near  the  root,  and  if  any  are  present, 
they  may  be  readily  cut  out.  In  large  peach  orchards, 
"  worming  "  is  a  part  of  the  labor  of  cultivation.  After 
the  harvest,  hands  are  employed  to  examine  every  tree 
for  borers,  and  the  more  careful  cultivators  examine  the 
trees  in  the  spring  also.  The  eggs  are  deposited  from 
the  middle  of  June,  occasionally  until  October,  at  the 
surface  of  the  ground.  The  grubs  so  soon  as  hatched, 
bore  their  way  through  the  bark,  and  enter  the  sap- 
wood.  An  exudation  of  gum  at  the  base  of  the  tree,  is  a 
sure  sign  of  the  presence  of  the  borer.  The  earth  is 
scraped  away  from  the  base  of  the  tree,  and  a  strong 
knife  is  used  to  cut  away  the  dead  and  diseased  bark  and 
wood,  and  expose  the  hole;  then  a  flexible  probe,  one  of 
whale-bone  is  preferred,  is  thrust  in  to  crush  the  borer. 
Sometimes  as  many  as  five  or  six  are  found  in  one  tree, 
but  all  must  be  killed.  After  the  operation  the  surface 
soil  is  drawn  up  to  the  tree  to  cover  the  wound.  Boiling 
water  applied  to  the  base  of  the  tree  has  been  found  use- 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


185 


ful.  The  borer  may  be  prevented  from  laying  her  eggs, 
by  surrounding  the  base  of  the  tree  with  paper,  which 
should  extend  for  two  inches  below,  and  at  least  six 
inches  above  the  surface  of  the  ground,  securing  the 
upper  portion  by  means  of  string  or  wire.  Cloth  and 
other  preventives  may  be  used  in  the  same  manner. 


THE   PLUM   CURCULIO. 
(Conotrachelus  nenuphar,  Herbst.) 

The  Plum  Ourculio,  commonly  known  all  over  the 
country  as  THE  Curculio,  is  a  small,  roughened,  warty, 
brownish  beetle,  belonging  to  a  very  extensive  family 
known  as  Snout-beetles  (Curculionidce).  It  measures 
about  one-fifth  of  an  inch 
in  length,  exclusive  of 
the  snout,  and  may  be 
distinguished  from  all 
other  North  American 
Snout-beetles  by  having 
an  elongate,  knife -edged 
hump,  resembling  a  piece 
of  black  sealing-wax,  on 
the  middle  of  each  wing- 
case,  behind  which  humps 
there  is  a  broad  clay-yel- 
low band,  with  more  or 
less  white  in  its  middle. 

shows  the   magnified  beetle,   and  at  figure  117 
represented  at  work,  still  more  enlarged. 

This  is  the  perfect  or  imago  form  of  the  Ourculio;  and 
it  is  in  this  hard,  shelly,  beetle  state,  that  the  female 
passes  the  winter,  sheltering  under  the  shingles  of  houses, 
under  the  old  bark  of  both  forest  and  fruit  trees,  under 
logs  and  in  rubbish  of  all  kinds.  As  spring  approaches. 


Fig.  116— PLUM  CURCULIO. 

(Conotrachelus  nenuphar,  Herbst.) 

a,  Larva ;  6,  Pupa :  c,  Beetle ;  d,  Beetle  at 

work. 

The  engraving,  figure  116,  c, 
it  is 


186  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

it  awakens  from  its  lethargy,  and,  if  it  has  slept  in  the 
forest,  instinctively  searches  for  the  nearest  orchard. 
In  Central  Illinois  and  in  Central  Missouri  the  beetles 
may  be  found  in  the  trees  during  the  last  half  of  April, 
but  in  the  extreme  southern  part  of  Illinois  they  appeal- 
about  two  weeks  earlier,  while  in  the  extreme  northern 
part  of  the  same  State  they  are  fully  two  weeks  later. 
Thus,  in  the  single  State  of  Illinois,  there  is  a  difference 
of  about  one  month  in  the  time  of  the  Curculio's  first 
appearance  on  fruit  trees;  and  the  time  will  vary  with 
the  forwardness  or  lateness  of  the  season. 

As  we  shall  see  from  the  sequel,  it  is  very  important 
that  we  know  just  when  first  to  expect  "  Mrs.  Turk,"  and 
I  therefore  lay  it  down  as  a  rule,  applicable  to  any  lati- 
tude, that  she  first  commences  to  puncture  peaches  when 
they  are  of  the  size  of  small  marbles  or  of  hazel-nuts, 
though  she  may  be  found  on  the  trees  as  soon  as  they  are 
in  blossom.  To  prevent  confusion  I  will  use  the  word 
"  peach,"  not  that  her  work  is  confined  to  this  fruit,  for, 
as  we  shall  presently  see,  she  is  not  so  particular  in  her 
tastes,  but  because  the  peach  is  more  extensively  grown 
than  are  any  of  the  other  large  kinds  of  stone-fruit. 

Alighting,  'then,  on  a  small  peach,  she  takes  a  strong 
hold  of  it  (fig.  116  d),  and  with  the  minute  jaws  at  the 
end  of  her  snout,  makes  a  small  cut  just  through  the 
skin  of  the  fruit.  She  then  runs  the  snout  slantingly 
under  the  skin,  to  the  depth  of  one-sixteenth  of  an  inch, 
and  moves  it  back  and  forth  until  the  cavity  is  large 
enough  to  receive  the  egg  it  is  to  retain.  Then  she  turns 
around  and  drops  an  egg  into  the  mouth  of  the  cavity, 
and  after  this  is  accomplished,  she  resumes  her  first  posi- 
tion, and  by  means  of  her  snout  pushes  the  egg  to  the 
end  of  the  passage,  and  afterwards  deliberately  cuts  the 
crescent  in  front  of  the  hole,  so  as  to  undermine  the  egg 
and  leave  it  in  a  sort  of  flap.  The  whole  operation 
requires  about  five  minutes,  and^  her  object  in  cutting  the 


OF  THE   FAKM   AND   GARDEN. 


387 


crescent  is  evidently  to  deaden  the  flap,  so  as  to  prevent 
the  growing  fruit  from  crushing  the  egg. 

Now  that  she  has  completed  this  task,  and  has  gone 
off  to  perform  a  similar  operation  on  some  other  fruit, 
let  us  from  day  to  day  watch  the  egg  which  we  have  just 
seen  deposited,  and  learn  in  what  manner  it  develops 
into  a  Curculio  like  the  parent  which  produced  it — 
remembering  that  the  life  and  habits  of  this  one  indi- 
vidual are  illustrative  of  those  of  every  other  Plum 
Cucurlio. 

We  shall  find  that  the  egg  is  oval  and  of  a  pearly- white 
color.  Should  the  weather  be  warm  and  genial,  this  egg 
will  hatch  in  from  four 
to  five  days,  but  if  cold 
and  unpleasant  the 
hatching  will  not  take 
place  for  a  week  or  even 
longer.  Eventually, 
however,  there  hatches 
from  the  egg  a  soft, 
tiny,  footless  grub  with 
a  horny  head,  and  this 
grub  immediately  com- 
mences to  feed  upon  the 
green  flesh  of  the  fruit, 
boring  a  tortuous  path 
as  it  proceeds.  It  riots 
in  the  fruit — working 
by  preference  around 
the  stone — for  from  three  to  five  weeks,  the  period 
varying,  according  to  various  controlling  influences* 

The  fruit  containing  this  grub  does  not,  in  the  major- 
ity of  instances,  mature,  but  falls  prematurely  to  the 
ground,  generally  before  the  grub  is  quite  full  grown. 
I  have  known  fruit  to  lie  on  the  ground  for  upwards  of 
two  weeks  before  the  grub  left,  and  have  found  as  many 


Fig.  117.— THE  PLUM  CURCULIO. 

The  insect  and  its  work,  greatly  enlarged. 


188  INJUKIOUS   INSECTS 

as  five  grubs  in  a  single  peach  which  had  been  on  the 
ground  for  several  days.  When  the  grub  has  once 
become  full  grown,  however,  it  forsakes  the  fruit  which 
it  has  ruined,  and  burrows  from  four  to  six  inches  in  the 
ground.  At  this  time  it  is  of  a  glassy  yellowish-white 
color,  though  it  usually  partakes  of  the  color  of  the  fruit- 
flesh  on  which  it  was  feeding.  It  is  about  two-fifths  of 
an  inch  long,  with  the  head  light  brown;  there  is  a 
lighter  line  running  along  each  side  of  its  body,  with  a 
row  of  minute  black  bristles  below,  and  a  less  distinct 
one  above  it,  while  the  stomach  is  rust-red,  or  blackish. 
The  full  grown  larva  presents  the  appearance  of  fig- 
ure 116,  a. 

In  the  ground,  by  turning  round  and  round,  it  com- 
presses the  earth  on  all  sides  until  it  has  formed  a 
smooth  oval  cavity.  Within  this  cavity,  in  the  course  of 
a  few  days,  it  assumes  the  pupa  form,  figure  116,  b. 

After  remaining  in  the  ground  in  this  state  for  just 
about  three  weeks,  it  becomes  a  beetle,  which,  though 
soft  and  uniformly  reddish  at  first,  soon  assumes  its 
natural  colors;  and,  when  its  several  parts  are  sufficiently 
hardened,  works  through  the  soil  to  the  light  of  day. 

The  Curculio  when  alarmed,  like  very  many  other 
insects,  and  especially  such  as  belong  to  the  same  great 
Order  of  Beetles  (Coleoptera),  folds  up  its  legs  close  to  the 
body,  turns  under  its  snout  into  a  groove  which  receives 
it,  and  drops  to  the  ground.  In  doing  this  it  feigns 
death,  so  as  to  escape  from  threatened  danger,  and  does 
in  reality  very  greatly  resemble  a  dried  fruit  bud.  It 
attacks,  either  for  purposes  of  propagation  or  for  food, 
the  Nectarine,  Plum,  Apricot,  Peach,  Cherry,  Apple, 
Pear  and  Quince,  preferring  them  in  the  order  of  their 
naming. 

It  is  always  most  numerous  in  the  early  part  of  the 
season  on  the  outside  of  the  orchards  that  are  surrounded 


OF   THE   FARM   AND    „_„ 

. 'NIVERSir 

with  timber.  It  is  also  more  numerous/in  timbered 
regions  than  on  the  prairie. 

It  can  fly  and  does  fly,  especially  during  the  heat  of 
the  day;  so  cotton  bandages  around  the  trunk,  and  all 
like  contrivances,  are  worse  than  useless. 

It  prefers  smooth-skinned  to  rough-skinned  stone- 
fruit. 

The  Miner  Plum,  otherwise  known  as  the  Hinckley 
Plum,  and  other  varieties  of  that  wild  species  known  as 
the  Chickasaw  Plum  (Prunus  Chicasa),  are  less  liable  to 
its  attacks  than  other  kinds. 

Both  the  male  and  female  puncture  the  fruit  for  food, 
by  gouging  hemispherical  holes;  but  the  female  alone 
makes  the  crescent-mark  above  described. 

Scarcely  any  eggs  are  deposited  after  the  stone  of  the 
fruit  has  become  hard. 

The  cherry  when  infested  remains  on  the  tree,  and  the 
preventive  measures  that  may  be  applied  to  other  fruits 
will  consequently  not  hold  good  with  this. 

The  larva  cannot  well  undergo  its  transformations  in 
earth  which  is  dry  or  baked,  and  severe  drouths  are  con- 
sequently prejudicial  to  its  increase. 

It  often  matures  in  apples  and  pears,  especially  in 
early  varieties,  bnt  in  the  great  majority  of  instances  the 
egg  either  fails  to  hatch  or  the  young  larva  perishes  in  a 
few  days  after  hatching. 

ARTIFICIAL  KEMEDIES. — The  remedies  are  few.  They 
consist  of  prevention,  by  destroying  the  fallen  fruit 
which  contains  the  grub,  and  by  jarring  down  and  catch- 
ing and  killing  the  beetles.  There  are  a  variety  of  means 
which  can  be  employed  for  destroying  the  grubs  which  fall 
with  the  fruit  before  they  enter  the  ground.  It  can  be 
done  either  by  hand  or  by  stock.  Hogs  and  poultry  are 
of  undoubted  use  for  this  purpose.  Of  course,  the  first 
year  they  are  used  they  do  not  in  the  least  decrease  the 


190  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

number  of  beetles,  but  wherever  they  can  be  used,  a 
most  beneficial  effect  will  be  noticed  the  second  year, 
and  every  year  afterwards.  All  attempts  to  repel  the 
Curculio  by  hanging  corn-cobs  soaked  in  kerosene  in 
the  tree,  or  by  throwing  offensive  mixtures  upon  the 
foliage  have  proved  useless.  The  most  effective  method 
thus  far  discovered,  is  to  jar  down  the  insects  and  catch 
them  on  sheets.  The  tree  should  have  a  sudden  jarring, 
not  a  mere  shaking.  For  this  purpose  it  is  a  good  plan 
to  saw  off  a  small  limb,  leaving  a  stump  a  foot  or  less 
long,  upon  which  to  strike  with  a  heavy  mallet,  this 
avoids  bruising  the  bark  of  the  tree.  To  catch  the 
insects,  two  pieces  of  sheeting,  each  two  yards  long  and 
a  yard  wide,  may  be  stiffened  by  means  of  small  rods  or 
sticks,  one  at  each  long  side  and  one  in  the  middle; 
make  the  end  of  these  sticks  sharp,  and  cut  a  notch  at  a 
short  distance  from  the  end;  the  points  of  the  sticks  may 
be  pushed  into  the  cloth,  and  the  notches  will  prevent 
that  from  slipping.  A  person  can  readily  carry  these 
from  tree  to  tree,  and  placing  them  on  the  ground,  one 
each  side  of  the  trunk,  the  tree  is  then  to  be  jarred  by  a 
stroke  of  the  mallet.  The  fallen  insects  may  be  crushed 
between  the  fingers,  or  be  placed  in  a  vessel  of  water, 
upon  which  there  floats  a  small  quantity  of  kerosene. 

THE  PERIODICAL  OR  SEVENTEEN-YEAR  CICADA. 
(Cicada  septendecim,  Linn.) 

This  insect  is  popularly  known  as  the f '  Seventeen-year 
Locust,"  and  by  many  confounded  with  the  true  Locust, 
and  said  to  devour  every  green  thing,  whereas  it  is  en- 
tirely unlike  the  "  Rocky  Mountain  Locust,"  or  "  Color- 
ado Grasshopper;  "  it  belongs  to  another  family,  and  has 
no  jaws  with  which  to  devour  anything.  It  simply  has 
a  beak  to  suck  the  juices  of  plants.  It  probably  does  its 


OF  THE  FAftM  AHD   GARDEN.  191 

greatest  injury  in  its  under-ground  life,  sucking  the  juices 
of  the  roots  of  trees  and  plants,  where  it  lives  seventeen 
years.  It  however  does  much  injury  to  fruit  and  other 
trees;  the  excavations  made  by  the  female  form  bad, 
ragged  wounds,  and  sometimes  so  weaken  the  small 
branches  that  they  are  broken  off.  The  following  is 
mainly  condensed  from  the  description  by  Harris  in  his 
work  on  "Insects  Injurious  to  Vegetation." 

The  Seventeen-year  Cicada  in  the  winged  state  (fig. 
118,  c),  is  of  a  black  color,  with  transparent  wings  and 


Fig.  118 — PERIODICAL  CICADA  ( Cicada  septendecim,  Linn.) 

a,  Pupa ;  6,  Pupa  Shell ;  c,  Perfect  Insect ;  d,  Twig  with  Punctures,  natural  size ; 
e,  Eggs,  enlarged. 

wing-covers,  the  thick  anterior  edge  and  larger  veins  of 
which  are  orange-red,  and  near  the  tips  of  the  latter 
there  is  a  dusky  zigzag  line  in  the  form  of  the  letter  W, 
supposed  by  the  superstitious  to  indicate  war;  the 
eyes  when  living  are  also  red;  the  rings  of  the  body 
are  edged  with  dull-orange;  and  the  legs  are  of  the  same 


192  IHJUBIOUS  IKSECTS 

color.     The  wings  expand  from  two  and  one-half  to  three 
and  one-quarter  inches. 

In  its  many  years  of  underground  life  this  insect  does 
more  or  less  damage  by  feeding  upon  the  roots  of  plants, 
but  its  manifest  injury  is  only  when,  in  the  perfect  state, 
the  female  deposits  her  eggs  in  the  twigs  of  fruit  trees, 
and  at  the  times  of  periodical  abundance  the  injury  it 
causes  is  often  serious,  and  it  is  properly  classed  among 
those  injurious  to  fruit  trees. 

In  those  parts  of  the  country  which  are  subject  to  the 
visitation  of  this  Cicada,  it  may  be  seen  in  forests  of  Oak 
through  the  month  of  June.  And  such  immense  num- 
bers are  sometimes  congregated  as  to  bend  and  even 
break  down  the  limbs  of  the  trees  by  their  weight,  and 
the  woods  resound  with  the  din  of  their  discordant  drums 
from  morning  to  evening.  After  pairing,  the  females 
proceed  to  prepare  a  nest  for  the  reception  of  their  eggs. 
They  select,  for  this  purpose,  branches  of  a  moderate 
size,  which  they  clasp  on  both  sides  with  their  legs,  and 
then,  bending  down  the  piercer  at  an  angle  of  about 
forty-five  degrees,  they  repeatedly  thrust  it  obliquely  into 
the  bark  and  wood  in  the  direction  of  the  fibres,  at  the 
same  time  putting  in  motion  the  lateral  saws,  and  in 
this  way  detach  little  splinters  of  the  wood  at  one  end, 
so  as  to  form  a  kind  of  fibrous  lid  or  cover  to  the  perfo- 
ration. The  hole  is  bored  obliquely  to  the  pith,  and  is 
gradually  enlarged  by  a  repetition  of  the  same  operation, 
until  a  longitudinal  fissure  is  formed  of  sufficient  extent 
to  receive  from  ten  to  twenty  eggs.  The  side-pieces  of  the 
piercer  serve  as  a  groove  to  convey  the  eggs  into  the  nest, 
where  they  are  deposited  in  pairs,  side  by  side,  but  sepa- 
rated from  each  other  by  a  portion  of  woody  fibre,  and 
they  are  implanted  in  the  limb  somewhat  obliquely,  so 
that  one  end  points  upwards.  When  two  eggs  have  been 
thus  placed,  the  insect  withdraws  the  piercer  for  a  mo- 
ment, and  then  inserts  it  again  and  drops  two  more  eggs 


OF  THE   FARM  AND   GARDEN.  193 

in  a  line  with  the  first,  and  repeats  the  operation  until  she 
has  filled  the  fissure  from  one  end  to  the  other,  upon 
which  she  removes  to  a  little  distance,  and  begins  to  make 
another  nest  to  contain  two  more  rows  of  eggs.  She  is 
about  fifteen  minutes  in  preparing  a  single  nest  and  fill- 
ing it  with  eggs;  but  it  is  not  unusual  for  her  to  make 
fifteen  or  twenty  fissures  in  the  same  limb;  and  one  ob- 
server counted  fifty  nests  extending  along  in  a  line,  each 
containing  fifteen  or  twenty  eggs  in  two  rows,  and  all  of 


Fig.  119.— A  PUNCTURED  TWIG. 


them  apparently  the  work  of  one  insect.  After  one  limb 
is  thus  stocked,  the  Cicada  goes  to  another,  and  passes 
from  limb  to  limb  and  from  tree  to  tree,  until  her  store, 
which  consists  of  four  hundred  or  five  hundred  eggs,  is  ex- 
hausted. At  length  she  becomes  so  weak  by  her  inces- 
sant labors  to  provide  for  a  succession  of  her  kind,  as  to 
falter  and  fall  in  attempting  to  fly,  and  soon  dies.  Fig- 
ure 118, 6?,  shows  a  twig  in  which  the  eggs  have  been  laid, 
and  another  is  given  in  figure  119. 

Although  the  Cicadas  abound  most  upon  the  Oak,  they 
resort  occasionally  to  other  forest  trees,  and  even  to 
shrubs,  when  impelled  by  the  necessity  for  depositing 


Fig.  120. — TWIG  WITH  HEALED  PUNCTURES. 

their  eggs,  and  they  very  often  commit  them  to  fruit- 
trees,  when  the  latter  are  in  their  vicinity.  The  punc- 
tured limbs  languish  and  die  soon  after  the  eggs  which 
are  placed  in  them  are  hatched;  they  are  broken  by  the 
winds  or  by  their  own  weight,  and  either  remain  hanging 
by  the  bark  alone,  or  fall  with  their  withered  foliage  to 


194  INJUEIOUS   INSECTS 

the  ground.  In  this  way  orchards  have  suffered  severely 
in  consequence  of  the  injurious  punctures  of  these  insects. 
Sometimes,  however,  the  twigs  of  the  Apple  and  other 
fruit  trees  recover  from  these  attacks  and  new  wood 
forms  over  the  wounds  as  shown  in  figure  120. 

The  eggs  (fig.  118,  e)  are  one-twelfth  of  an  inch  long,  and 
one-tenth  of  an  inch  through  the  middle,  but  taper  at 
each  end  to  an  obtuse  point,  and  are  of  a  pearl-white 
color.  The  shell  is  so  thin  and  delicate  that  the  form  of 
the  included  insect  can  be  seen  before  the  egg  is  hatched. 
The  young  insect  when  it  bursts  the  shell  is  one-sixteenth 
of  an  inch  long,  and  is  of  a  yellowish-white  color,  except 
the  eyes  and  the  claws  of  the  fore  legs,  which  are  reddish; 
and  it  is  covered  with  little  hairs.  In  form  it  is  some- 
what grub-like,  being 
longer  in  proportion 
than  the  parent  insect, 
and  is  furnished  with 
six  legs,  the  first  pair 
of  which  are  very  large, 

Fig.  121.— LAEVA,  MUCH  ENLARGED.  ,  -  -»  ° 

shaped  almost  r.ke  lob- 
ster claws,  and  armed  with  strong  spines  beneath,  On 
the  shoulders  are  little  prominences  in  the  place  of  wings; 
and  under  the  breast  is  a  long  beak  for  suction.  Fig.  121 
shows  the  larva  enlarged.  These  little  creatures  when 
liberated  from  the  shell  are  very  lively,  and  their  move- 
ments are  nearly  as  quick  as  those  of  ants.  After  a  few 
movements  their  instincts  prompt  them  to  get  to  the 
ground,  but  in  order  to  reach  it  they  do  not  descend 
the  body  of  the  tree,  neither  do  they  cast  off  them- 
selves precipitately;  but,  running  to  the  side  of  the  limbs 
they  deliberately  loosen  their  hold,  and  fall  to  the  earth. 
On  reaching  the  ground  the  insects  immediately  bury 
themselves  in  the  soil,  burrowing  by  means  of  their 
broad  and  strong  fore  feet,  which,  like  those  of  the  mole, 
are  admirably  adapted  for  digging.  In  their  descent  into 


OP  THE  FARM  AND  GARDEH.         195 

the  earth  they  seem  to  follow  the  roots  of  plants,  and  are 
subsequently  found  attached  to  those  which  are  most 
tender  and  succulent,  perforating  them  with  their  beaks, 
and  thus  imbibing  the  vegetable  juices  which  constitute 
their  sole  nourishment. 

The  grubs  do  not  appear  ordinarily  to  descend  very 
deeply  into  the  ground,  but  remain  where  roots  are  most 
abundant.  The  only  alteration  to  which  the  insects  are 
subject,  during  the  long  period  of  their  subterranean  con- 
finement, is  an  increase  in  size,  and  the  more  complete 
development  of  the  four  small  scale-like  prominences  on 
their  backs,  which  represent  and  actually  contain  their 
future  wings.  Fig.  118,  a,  represents  the  full-grown 
larva. 

When  at  length  the  time  arrives  for  them  to  issue  from 
the  ground  they  come  out  in  great  numbers  in  the  night, 
crawl  up  the  trunks  of  trees,  or  upon  any  other  object 
in  their  vicinity  to  which  they  can  fasten  themselves  se- 
curely by  their  claws.  After  having  rested  awhile,  they 
prepare  to  cast  off  their  skins,  which,  in  the  mean  time, 
have  become  dry  and  of  an  amber  color.  By  repeated 
exertions,  a  longitudinal  rent  is  made  in  the  skin  of  the 
back,  and  through  this  the  included  Cicada  pushes  its 
head  and  body,  and  withdraws  its  wings  and  limbs  from 
their  separate  cases,  and,  crawling  to  a  little  distance,  it 
leaves  its  empty  pupa-skin,  apparently  entire,  still  fas- 
tened to  the  tree  as  in  fig.  118,  #.  At  first  the  wing-covers 
are  very  small  and  opaque,  but,  being  perfectly  soft  and 
flexible,  they  soon  stretch  out  to  their  full  dimensions, 
and  in  the  course  of  a  few  hours  the  superfluous  mois- 
ture of  the  body  evaporates,  and  the  insect  becomes 
strong  enough  to  fly. 

During  several  successive  nights  the  pupae  continue  to 
issue  from  the  earth;  above  fifteen  hundred  have  been 
found  to  rise  beneath  a  single  apple  tree,  and  in  some 
places  the  whole  surface  of  the  soil,  by  their  successive 


196  INJUKIOUS   INSECTS 

operations,  has  appeared  as  full  of  holes  as  a  honey-comb. 
Within  about  a  fortnight  after  their  final  transformation 
they  begin  to  lay  their  eggs,  and  in  the  space  of  six 
weeks  the  whole  generation  becomes  extinct. 

They  are  subject  to  many  accidents,  and  have  many 
enemies,  which  contribute  to  diminish  their  numbers. 
Their  eggs  are  eaten  by  birds;  the  young,  when  they  first 
issue  from  the  shell,  are  preyed  upon  by  ants,  which 
mount  the  trees  to  feed  upon  thorn,  or  destroy  them 
when  they  are  about  to  enter  the  ground.  Blackbirds 
eat  them  when  turned  up  by  the  plow  in  fields,  and  hogs 
are  excessively  fond  of  them,  and,  when  suffered  to  go 
at  large  in  the  woods,  root  them  up,  and  devour  immense 
numbers  just  before  the  arrival  of  the  period  of  their 
final  transformation,  when  they  are  lodged  immediately 
under  the  surface  of  the  soil.  It  is  stated  that  many 
perish  in  the  egg  state,  by  the  rapid  growth  of  the  bark 
and  wood,  which  closes  the  perforations  and  buries  the 
eggs  before  they  are  hatched;  and  many,  without  doubt, 
are  killed  by  their  perilous  descent  from  the  trees. 

Such  are  the  general  habits  of  this  remarkable  insect 
which  now,  and  probably  has  for  ages,  passed  seventeen 
years  of  its  life  hidden  in  the  soil,  and  at  stated  periods 
has  appeared  for  a  short  season  of  life  above  ground.  A 
most  elaborate  account  of  the  habits  of  this  Cicada  will 
be  found  in  the  First  Missouri  Keport  (1868),  in  which 
the  important  discovery  is  announced  that  there  are  races 
which  complete  their  career  in  thirteen  years;  while  no 
differences  have  been  found  between  the  Thirteen-year 
and  Seventeen-year  Cicadas,  other  than  in  the  time  of 
their  appearing,  yet  some  entomologists  give  them  as 
distinct,  and  the  Thirteen-year  Cicadas  are,  for  conven- 
ience called  0.  tredecim,  Riley.  This  form  is  confined  to 
more  southerly  localities  than  the  other.  While  the  Sev- 
enteen-year Cicada  completes  its  round  in  that  num- 
ber of  years,  it  is  not  due  all  over  the  country  on  the 


OF   THE   EARM   AND    GARDEN".  197 

same  year,  but  "the  Locust  years"  differ  in  different 
States.  In  the  Report  above  referred  to,  there  are  given 
the  dates  of  the  appearance  of  twenty-two  different 
broods.  For  example.  B.rood  XX  which  appeared  in 
1866,  may  be  looked  for  in  1883  in  Western  New  York, 
Western  Pennsylvania  and  in  Eastern  Ohio.  The  brood 
XXI,  is  due  in  1884  and  at  intervals  of  seventeen  years 
thereafter,  in  parts  of  North  Carolina  and  in  Central 
Virginia.  In  1885  a  brood  will  appear  in  parts  of  New 
York  and  New  England^  in  parts  of  Pennsylvania,  Mary- 
land, the  District  of  Columbia,  in  Delaware,  Virginia, 


Fig.  122 — THE  DIGGER  WASP  (Stizus  grandis). 

in  parts  of  Ohio,  Michigan,  Indiana  and  Kentucky.  This 
brood  has  a  record  extending  from  1715,  since  which 
date  it  has  appeared  at  regular  intervals  of  seventeen 
years,  up  to  its  last  occurrence  in  1868.  In  some  cases 
two  broods  may  lap  over  upon  one  another  in  the  same 
locality. 

DOES  THE  CICADA  STIKG?  There  have  been  various 
accounts  in  the  papers  of  injury  from  the  sting  of  the 
Periodical  Cicada.  It  has  a  beak  by  means  of  which  it 
draws  its  nourishment  from  the  branches  of  trees,  and 
it  may  be  that  in  careless  handling  of  the  insect,  it  has 


198 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS. 


thrust  its  beak  into  the  flesh.  The  most  probable  origin 
of  these  reports  of  stinging  is  due  to  the  fact  that  a  very 
large  digger  wasp  (Stizus  grand-is)  provides  its  nest  with 
the  Cicada,  among  other  insects,  as  food  for  its  young. 
The  mother  wasp  stings  her  victims  sufficiently  to  para- 
lyze, but  not  to  kill  them,  and  takes  them  to  her  under- 
ground nest.  This  wasp  is  given  of  the  real  size  in 
figure  122.  It  is  possible  that  one  may,  in  catching  a 
Cicada,  get  a  sting  from  this  wasp,  which  had  already 
captured  it. 


Insects  Injurious  to  Small  Fruits, 


CURRANT    AND    GOOSEBERRY. 

THE    GOOSEBERRY  SPAN-WORM. 

(Eufitchia  ribearia,  Pack.) 

This,  which  has  been  called  the  American  Currant- 
moth,  and  sometimes  merely  "  Currant-worm,"  was  first 
described  by  Dr.  Fitch,  as  Abraxas  ribearia,  referring  it 
to  the  same  genus  with  the  European  Gooseberry  Moths. 
Later,  Dr.  Packard  finding  it  to  belong  to  a  different 
genus,  dedicated  it  to  its  distinguished  discoverer,  call- 
ing it  Eufitchia.  While  it  is  found  upon  the  Gooseberry, 
and  Currant,  it  shows  a  decided  preference  for  the 
former,  and  when  the  two  are  growing  near  one  another, 
it  will  first  attack  the  Gooseberry. 

It  may  at  once  be  distinguished  from  any  other  worm 
found  either  on  Gooseberry  or  Currant,  by  its  being 
what  is  popularly  called  a  Measuring- worm.  Figure  123, 
shows  this  larva,  which,  when  full-grown,  measures  about 
an  inch,  and  is  of  a  light-yellow  color,  with  lateral  white 
lines,  and  numerous  black  spots  and  round  dots.  The 
head  is  white,  with  two  black  eye -like  spots  on  the  outer 
sides  above,  and  two  smaller  ones  beneath.  The  six 
true  legs  are  black,  and  the  four  pro-legs  yellow.  It  at- 
tains its  growth  about  the  middle  of  June,  when  it  de- 
scends to  the  ground,  and  either  burrows  a  little  below 
the  surface,  or  hides  under  any  rubbish  that  may  be  lying 
there;  but  in  neither  case  does  it  form  any  cocoon. 
Shortly  after  this  it  changes  to  a  chrysalis,  shown  at  the 
199 


200 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


left-hand  side  in  figure  123,  of  a  shining  mahogany  color. 
In  about  fourteen  days  it  bursts  the  pupa  shell,  and, 
early  in  July,  appears  as  a  moth,  represented  in  figure  123, 
the  upper  one  being  the  male,  with  feathered  feelers,  and 
the  lower  the  female,  in  which  these  are  simple.  The 


Fig.  123.—  GOOSEBERRY 


(Mufttchia  ribearia). 


moth  is  of  a  pale  nankin-yellow  color,  the  wings  shaded 
with  faint  dusky  leaden-colored  spots  arranged  so  as  not 
to  present  any  definite  pattern.  The  female  lays  her 
eggs  on  the  branches  and  twigs  of  the  bushes,  hence  the 
species  is  frequently  carried  in  the  egg  state  upon  trans- 
planted bushes  from  one  neighborhood  to  another;  which 
accounts  for  its  sudden  appearance  in  parts  where  it  was 
before  unknown.  For  there  is  but  one  brood  of  this 


OF  THE   FARM   AKD   GARDEN".  201 

insect  in  one  year,  and  the  eggs  must  consequently,  like 
those  of  the  Tent-worm  of  the  Apple  tree,  be  exposed, 
on  the  twigs  and  limbs  to  which  they  are  attached,  to  all 
the  heats  of  July  and  August  without  hatching  out,  and 
to  all  the  frosts  of  December  and  January  without  freez- 
ing out.  At  length,  when  the  proper  time  arrives,  and 
the  Gooseberry  and  Currant  bushes  are  out  in  full  leaf 
so  as  to  afford  plenty  of  food,  the  tiny  tough  little  egg 
hatches  out  about  the  latter  end  of  May,  and  in  a  little 
more  than  three  weeks  the  worms  attain  their  full  larval 
development. 

This  Gooseberry  Span-worm  was  first  noticed  near 
Chicago  in  1862  or  '63;  and  for  two  or  three  years  after- 
wards it  increased  rapidly,  so  as  in  most  gardens  not  to 
leave  a  single  leaf  on  the  Gooseberry,  and  in  many  in- 
stances to  entirely  strip  the  Currant  bushes.  It  is  quite 
common  also  in  St.  Louis  and  Jefferson  Counties  in 
Missouri,  and  has  entirely  stripped  the  Gooseberry 
bushes  on  many  farms  in  these  counties.  Elsewhere  in 
the  Western  States  it  is  not  by  any  means  common;  but 
in  many  localities  in  the  East  it  has  been  a  severe  pest 
for  a  great  number  of  years,  especially  in  the  States  of 
New  York  and  Pennsylvania.  This  is  a  native  insect 
which  no  doubt  formerly  lived  upon  our  several  native 
species  of  Gooseberry.  When  cultivated  Gooseberries 
were  planted  within  their  reach,  they  manifested  a 
decided  preference  for  these,  and  multiplied  so  rapidly 
as  to  become,  in  some  localities,  a  serious  pest  to  the 
fruit  grower. 

EEMEDIES. — These  worms,  when  disturbed,  let  them- 
selves down  from  the  bushes,  and  hang  suspended  by  a 
web.  This  habit  may  be  made  useful  in  destroying 
them.  If  the  bushes  are  shaken  by  means  of  a  forked 
stick,  while  the  worms  are  still  young,  these  will  at  once 
let  themselves  down  by  their  threads;  the  stick  may  be 
then  passed  along  against  the  threads  to  draw  the  worms 


202 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


to  the  ground,  where  they  may  be  crushed.  Poultry 
may  be  used  to  capture  the  worms  when  they  descend 
to  the  ground  to  transform.  One  of  the  most  effective 
remedies  for  this,  and  all  similar  worms,  is  White  Helle- 
bore, used  as  described  under  Imported  Currant-worm. 


THE    IMPORTED   CURRANT-WORM. 
(Nematus  ventricosus,  Ring.) 

When  the  Currant-worm  is  mentioned  in  the  Eastern 
States,  this  is  most  likely  to  be  the  insect  referred  to. 
It  is  the  larva  of  a  Saw-fly  of  the  Order  Hymenoptera; 
these  are  called  False-caterpillars,  as  they  never  have  less 


Fig.  124.— THE  IMPORTED  CURRANT-WORM  (Nematus  ventricows,  Ring.) 

than  six,  sometimes  as  many  as  eight  pairs  of 
pro-legs,  while  the  True-caterpillars  never  have  more 
than  five  pairs.  The  insect  is  a  native  of  Europe,  and  is 
supposed  to  have  been  introduced  into  some  of  the  nurs- 
eries at  Eochester,  N.  Y.,  about  the  year  1857,  though 
it  appears  to  have  been  known  in  Canada  at  an  earlier 


OF   THE   FARM   AND    GARDEN. 


203 


date.  It  is  very  abundant  in  the  New  England  States, 
and  in  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  and  has  extended  to 
some  of  the  Western  States.  The  insect  appears  soon 
after  the  Currant  and  Gooseberry  bushes  put  forth  their 
leaves,  and  the  eggs  are  laid  upon  the  under  surface  of  the 
lower  leaves,  along  the  principal  veins.  The  eggs  hatch 
in  a  week  or  ten  days  into  a  pale,  twenty-legged  Cater- 
piller,  with  a  large  dull  whitish  head.  They  soon  become 
green,  and  acquire  shining  black  spots  on  the^  body,  and 
the  head  becomes  black. 
The  full-grown  worms 
are  about  three-fourths 
of  an  inch  long  and  are 
shown  in  various  posi- 
tions in  figure  124,  a\  1) 
gives  the  position  of  the 
black  spots  upon  a  mag- 
nified joint  of  the  body. 
When  they  have  com- 
pleted their  growth,  they 
leave  the  bushes,  and 
either  hide  just  below 
the  surface  of  the 
ground,  or '  under  any 
leaves  that  may  be  on 
the  surface,  spin  a  thin 
cocoon  of  brownish  silk,  within  which  they  assume  the 
pupa  state.  Late  in  June,  or  early  in  July,  sometimes 
not  until  August,  the  perfect  insects  appear;  a  second 
crop  of  eggs  is  laid,  and  the  same  round  is  repeated;  but 
this  second  brood  does  not  issue  from  the  pupa  until  the 
following  spring.  The  perfect  insect  is  shown  in  figure 
125,  a  being  the  male,  and  1)  the  female,  the  lines  show- 
ing the  actual  size. 

Those  who  receive  Currant  bushes  from  a  distance,  in 
order  to  avoid  the  introduction  of  this  insect  in  the  pupa 


Fig.  125. — THE  PERFECT  INSECT, 
a,  Male  ;  6,  Female. 


204  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

state,  should  carefully  wash  the  roots  of  the  plants,  and 
burn  whatever  may  be  washed  from  them. 

REMEDIES. — When  the  worms  are  not  checked,  they 
soon  strip  both  the  Currant  and  Gooseberry  bushes  of 
their  leaves,  and  the  partly  grown  fruit  shrivels  and  dies. 
The  insect  threatened  to  put  an  end  to  Currant  culture 
in  localities  where  it  is  an  important  crop,  until  an  effec- 
tive remedy  was  made  known.  By  the  prompt  use  of 
White  Hellebore  the  insect  may  be  subdued  with  but  lit- 
tle trouble  and  the  crop  saved.  Some  papers  speak  of 
the  use  of  "Hellebore,"  and  it  is  necessary  to  specify 
White  Hellebore  (  Veratrum  album)  which  is  an  entirely 
different  drug  from  the  Black  Hellebore  (Helleborus 
niger).  The  powdered  root,  as  sold  at  the  drug  stores,  is 
of  a  light  greenish-yellow  color  and  excites  violent  sneez- 
ing when  taken  into  the  nostrils,  hence  care  should  be 
observed  in  handling  it.  The  powder  may  be  sprinkled 
upon  the  bushes  by  means  of  a  tin  sifter,  but  this  is  often 
attended  by  unpleasant  sneezing,  and  is  not  so  economi- 
cal or  effective  as  to  apply  it  mixed  with  water.  Place  a 
heaping  tablespoonful  of  the  powder  in  a  bowl  or  other 
dish  holding  a  quart  or  more,  gradually  add  boiling 
water,  stirring  to  make  sure  that  the  powder  is  thoroughly 
wetted;  then  add  more  water,  stirring  until  a  quart,  more 
or  less,  has  been  added.  Turn  this  mixture  into  a  pail- 
ful of  cold  water,  stir  well,  and  apply  by  the  use  of  any 
garden  syringe  or  hand  engine,  or  a  watering  pot  may  be 
used.  The  object  should  be  to  wet  every  leaf,  hence 
much  force  is  not  needed.  In  a  few  days,  if  any  worms 
are  found  to  have  escaped,  the  application  should  be  re- 
peated; rarely  are  more  than  two  doses  needed.  While 
White  Hellebore  is  poisonous,  no  danger  need  be  appre- 
hended from  the  use  of  the  fruit  from  bushes  thus 
treated.  The  chances  are  that  the  rains  will  wash  off 
any  of  the  powder  that  may  adhere  to  the  clusters;  but 
if  any  appreciable  quantity  should  remain,  the  fruit 


Or  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  205 

would  appear  soiled,  and  be  rejected  on  that  account. 
The  use  of  White  Hellebore  is  so  easy  and  so  effective 
that  none  of  the  other  applications  that  have  been  recom- 
mended need  be  noticed. 

NATURAL  ENEMIES. — There  will  be  found  in  the  IXth 
Missouri  Keport,  a  very  full  account  of  this  Saw-fly,  which 
states  that  it  is  attacked  by  several  insect  enemies, 
among  which  are  the  Placid  Soldier  Bug,  and  that  there 
are  at  least  two  Ichneumon  Flies  that  infest  it. 

THE  NATIVE  CURRANT  WORM. 
(Pristiphora  grossularice,  Walsh.) 

This,  like  the  Imported  Currant-worm,  is  the  larva  of 
a  Saw-fly,  but  of  a  different  genus,  distinguished  by  en- 


Fig.  126. — THE  NATIVE  CURRANT-WORM  (Pristiphora  grossularice,  Walsh.) 
a,  Larva ;  b,  Perfect  Insect. 

tomologists  on  account  of  the  different  veining  of  the 
wings.  The  larva  is  smaller  than  in  the  preceding,  only 
half  an  inch  long,  and  is  of  an  uniform  pale-green  color, 
without  any  black  dots.  It  does  not  go  under -ground  to 
make  its  cocoon,  but  always  spins  it  among  the  twigs 
and  leaves  of  the  bushes.  Figure  126  gives  the  larva  of 
the  natural  size  and  the  enlarged  fly;  the  male  and  female 
being  so  nearly  alike  that  separate  figures  are  not  needed. 
Unlike  the  preceding,  the  second  brood  issues  the  same 
autumn,  and  the  eggs  are  laid  upon  the  stems,  where 


206  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

they  pass  the  winter.  Wherever  this  native  insect  occurs 
upon  the  cultivated  Gooseberry  and  Currant,  it  may  be 
subdued  by  the  use  of  White  Hellebore  as  recommended 
for  the  Imported  Currant-worm. 

THE  CURRANT  STALK-BORER. 
ia  tipuliformis,  Linn.) 


This  is  an  imported  insect  and  of  the  same  genus  as 
the  Peach-borer.  The  moth  lays  her  eggs  singly  near  the 
buds,  and  the  larvae,  when  hatched,  make  their  way  di- 
rectly to  the  pith,  which  they  devour,  forming  a  channel 
several  inches  in  length.  The  stem,  thus  weakened, 
shows  by  the  inferior  size  of  its  fruit  that  this  insect  is 
present,  and  it  often  breaks  off  at  the  affected  part.  The 
impoverished  growth  of  the  stems  indicates  the  presence 
of  this  borer,  and  at  the  fall  pruning,  all  such  should  be 
cut  away  and  burned. 


THE   STKAWBERRY. 

Among  the  insect  enemies  of  the  Strawberry,  the  com- 
mon White  Grub  is  probably  one  of  the  most  destructive. 
This  insect,  which  is  injurious  to  so  many  different 
plants,  is  described  in  full,  and  suggestions  for  its  sup- 
pression are  given  on  page  33.  Their  injury  to  Straw- 
berry plantations  results  mainly  from  bad  management 
and  the  failure  of  the  grower  to  use  preventive  meas- 
ures. Good  old  pasture  and  meadow  lands  are  frequently 
selected  for  Strawberry  plantations,  and  sod  is  turned 
over,  and  as  soon  as  sufficiently  rotted,  the  plants  are  set 
out.  In  the  meantime  the  grubs  that  were  already  in 
the  ground,  and  perhaps  of  various  ages  from  a  few 


OF   THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  207 

weeks  to  a  year  or  two,  have  been  fasting,  or  making  an 
occasional  meal  of  the  half  decayed  grass-roots.  Finding 
fresli  Strawberry  roots  thrust  before  them,  they  com- 
mence a  most  vigorous  attack  upon  such  tender  food. 
The  planter  is  astonished  to  see  his  Strawberries  disap- 
pear, and  wonders  where  all  the  grubs  could  have  come 
from  in  so  short  a  time. 

Now  in  regions  where  the  White  Grub  abounds  it  is 
not  safe  to  set  out  Strawberries  on  freshly  inverted  sod; 
but  the  land  should  be  cultivated  at  least  two  seasons  in 
some  crop  requiring  frequent  hoeing  and  plowing,  before 
using  it  for  this  purpose.  Neither  should  the  Strawberry 
plantation  remain  or  be  continued  on  the  same  piece  of 
land  for  more  that  two  or  three  years,  if  what  is  called 
the  matted  or  bed  system  of  cultivation  is  pursued;  be- 
cause the  parent  beetle  soon  learns  that  these  weedy,  lit- 
tle-disturbed plantations,  are  a  safe  place  for  her  to  de- 
posit her  eggs. 

To  avoid  injury  to  Strawberry  plantations  by  this 
insect,  use  land  that  has  been  occupied  at  least  two  years 
in  some  hoed  crop,  like  corn,  potatoes,  or  beans,  and 
then  set  out  a  new  one  on  fresh  land  as  soon  as  the  old 
plants  begin  to  fail. 

THE   STRAWBERRY  WORM. 
(Emphytus  maculatus,  Norton.) 

Among  the  various  other  kinds  of  insects  injurious  to 
the  Strawberry  there  is  perhaps  none  more  destructive 
than  that  known  as  the  "  Strawberry  Worm."  This  pest 
is  a  small,  slender,  pale-green  worm,  that  attacks  the 
leaves,  eating  large  holes  in  them.  When  at  all  abun- 
dant it  soon  destroys  the  entire  foliage,  and  of  course  pre- 
vents further  growth  of  the  plants.  A.  S.  Fuller,  in  the 
"American  Entomologist"  says:  A  few  years  ago  this 


208  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

pest  almost  ruined  the  plants  in  my  garden,  but  of  late 
it  has  not  been  very  abundant,  although  it  has  not 
entirely  disappeared.  This  Strawberry  Worm  is  the 
larva  of  a  small  black  fly,  which  has  of  late  years 
become  abundant  throughout  the  Northern  States  and 
appears  to  be  more  destructive  at  the  West  than  at  the 
East.  The  worms  are  of  a  yellowish-green  color,  a  little 
over  half  an  inch  long,  and  when  feeding  are  usually  curl- 
ed up  as  in  fig.  127.  The  parent  fly  (fig.  128),  is  black, 
with  two  rows  of  whitish  spots  on  the  abdomen,  and  ap- 
pears in  the  Northern  States  in  May.  The  full-grown 


Fig.  127.—  STRAWBERRY-WORM  Fig.    128.— FLY  OP  STBAWBEBBY- 

(Jftnphytusmaculatiis,  Norton).  WORM. 

larvae  descend  and  enter  the  ground,  remaining  in  the 
pupa  state  until  the  following  spring.  Dusting  the  leaves 
with  lime,  when  they  are  wet  with  dew,  or  just  after  a 
rain,  is  the  best  method  of  destroying  the  pest  yet  found. 

STRAWBERRY  LEAF-BEETLE. 
(Paria  aterrima,  Oliv.) 

Within  a  few  years,  in  widely  separated  localities, 
from  Massachusetts  to  Missouri,  a  small  brownish  beetle 
has  been  found  attacking  the  leaves  of  the  Strawberry 
plants,  doing  much  damage.  The  larva  of  this  beetle  is 
white,  with  a  yellowish  head,  and  is  about  a  fourth  of  an 
inch  long;  it  lives  in  the  soil,  feeding  upon  the  roots  of 
the  Strawberry.  The  beetle  is  only  an  eighth  of  an  inch 


OF   THE    FARM   AKD    GAKDEN.  209 

long;  the  wing-covers  are  yellowish,  and  each  usually 
has  two  black  spots,  the  posterior  one  larger  than  the 
other.  When  numerous,  it  completely  defoliates  the 
plants.  Paris  Green  or  London  Purple  may  be  used 
when  the  fruit  is  off  to  destroy  this  insect  in  the  man- 
ner described  under  Colorado  Potato-beetle. 

THE    STRAWBERRY    LEAF-ROLLER. 
(Anchylopera  fragarice,  Walsh  and  Riley.) 

This  insect,  like  the  preceding,  has  been  more  trouble- 
some at  the  West  than  at  the  East.  It  is  the  larva  of  a 
moth  shown  in  figure  129,  a,  of 
the  real  size,  while  the  moth,  #,  is 
enlarged,  as  shown  by  the  lines  be- 
low it.  In  feeding,  it  folds  up  the 
leaves  by  drawing  their  edges  to- 
gether with  silken  threads,  and  eats 
out  the  pulpy  portions.  There  are 
two  broods  each  year;  the  first  one 
completing  their  transformations  on  Fig.  129.— STRAWBERRY 

,-,        ,  |        ,     ,,        „  _c    T    i      LEAP-ROLLER  (Anchf/lopera 

the  leaves  about  the  first  of  July.  fragarice). 

The  second  brood  of  worms  enter  «,  Larva  of  real  size ;  &,  Moth 

.  enlarged. 

the  ground,  where  they  change  into 
the  pupae,  and  remain  in  that  state  until  the  next 
spring.  The  habit  the  worms  have  of  rolling  themselves 
in  the  leaves,  renders  the  application  of  any  insecticide 
very  difficult.  It  has  been  suggested  to  burn  off  the  old 
leaves,  after  the  fruit  has  been  gathered,  or  to  pass  a 
heavy  roller  over  the  plants. 

THE    STRAWBERRY   CROWN-BORER. 
(Tyloderma  fragarice,  Riley.) 

This  enemy  to  the  Strawberry  grower  has  been  more 
abundant  in  Canada  and  the  Western  States  than  else- 


210  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

where.  The  perfect  insect  is  a  small  Snout-beetle,  or 
Curculio,  shown  in  figure  130,  enlarged,  the  line  giving 
the  real  size.  The  eggs  are  laid  in  the 
crowns  of  the  plants,  where  the  grubs 
destroy  the  embryo  fruit  stalks  and  leaves. 
The  only  remedy  thus  far  suggested  is, 
to  plow  up  the  infested  plantations  as  soon 
as  the  fruit  is  gathered,  while  the  young 
grubs  are  still  in  the  crowns  of  the  plants. 

Fig.  130. -STRAW-  OTHER  ENEMIES  TO  THE  STRAWBERRY. 

BERRY   CROWN-  . 

BORER.  Sometimes  a  green  fly  or  aphis,  espe- 

cially in  light,  loose  soil,  will  attack  the 
roots  in  large  numbers.  Dry  ashes,  or  the  use  of  the 
refuse  dust  of  tobacco  factories,  applied  close  to  these 
plants  will  destroy  these  insects;  so  would  the  use  of 
tobacco-water. 

The  Red  Spider  is  often  injurious  to  the  Strawberry, 
when  forced  under  glass,  and  sometimes,  in  dry  seasons, 
in  the  open  ground.  In  either  case,  copious  waterings, 
a  thorough  drenching  of  the  leaves,  is  the  best  remedy. 


THE    BLACKBERRY. 

Some  ten  years  ago,  the  cultivators  of  the  Blackberry 
in  various  parts  of  New  Jersey  noticed  that  the  ends  of 
the  young  growing  canes  in  summer  would  occasionally 
curl,  twist  about,  and  often  assume  a  singular,  fasci- 
ated  form,  resulting  in  an  entire  check  to  their  growth. 
The  leaves  on  these  infested  shoots  did  not  die  and  fall 
off,  but  merely  curled  up,  sometimes  assuming  a  deeper 
green  than  the  healthy  leaves  on  the  same  stalk.  At  the 
approach  of  winter  the  infested  leaves  remained  firmly 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  211 

attached  to  the  diseased  stems,  and  all  through  the  cold 
weather  and  far  into  the  spring,  these  leaf -laden  and  dis- 
eased stems  were  a  conspicuous  object  in  many  of  the 
Blackberry  plantations  of  the  State. 

If  the  infested  shoots  are  examined  in  summer,  thou- 
sands of  minute  insects  of  a  pale-yellow  color  and  covered 
with  a  powdery  exudation  will  be  found  sucking  the 
juices  of  the  succulent  stems  and  leaves,  causing  the 
crimping,  curling,  and  twisting  of  these  parts  as  de- 
scribed. 

This  parasite  resembles  somewhat  an  ordinary  green-fly 
(Aphis)  or  plant-louse,  but  according  to  recent  observations 
it  is  now  known  to  belong  to  the  closely  allied  Flea-lice 
family  (PsyUida),  distinguished  from  the  plant- lice  by 
a  different  veining  of  the  wings,  and  by  the  antennae  be- 
ing knobbed  at  the  tip,  like  those  of  the  butterfly,  the  knob 
usually  terminating  in  two  bristles.  These  insects  jump 
as  briskly  as  a  flea,  from  which  characteristic  they  derive 
their  scientific  name.  The  particular  species  in  question 
was  called  by  Prof.  Eiley  the  "  Bramble  Flea-louse  (Psyl- 
la  ruU)"  in  the  "American  Entomologist.  "  It  has  increas- 
ed very  rapidly  during  the  past  half  dozen  years  or  more, 
and  unless  fruit-growers  make  a  more  vigorous  fight 
than  they  yet  have  done,  it  will  soon  get  the  mastery  of 
most  Blackberry  plantations.  The  only  practical  method 
as  yet  discovered  for  checking  the  ravages  of  this  insect, 
is,  to  cut  off  the  ends  of  the  infested  canes  and  burn 
them.  This  operation  should  always  be  performed 
either  in  the  morning,  or  during  cool  wet  weather, 
else  many  of  the  insects  will  escape,  and  at  all  times  the 
severed  shoots  should  be  immediately  dropped  into  bags 
and  in  them  carried  to  the  place  where  they  are  to  be 
burned,  and  there  emptied  into  the  fire.  If  all  having 
Blackberry  bushes  in  their  gardens  would  practice  this 
method  of  destruction,  this  pest  would  soon  cease  to  do 
much  harm. 


212  INJUKIOUS   INSECTS 

BLACKBERRY    BORERS. 

Several  species  of  Borers  infest  the  Blackberry:  the 
most  common  one  is  the  larva  of  a  small,  slender,  red- 
necked beetle  (Oberea  perspicillata,  Hald.),  fig.  131.  The 
small,  legless  grubs  bore  the  pith  of  the  canes,  causing 
them  to  die  prematurely,  or  so  weakening  them  that  they 
are  broken  down  with  the  wind.  As  there  are  some  four- 
teen or  fifteen  species  of  the  Oberea  now  known,  it  may 
be  that  more  than  one  species  breed  in  the  Blackberry. 
Thus  far,  however,  I  am  not  aware  that  they  have  been 
very  injurious,  but  it  would  be  well  to  gather  all  infested 
canes  and  burn  them  with  their  contents. 

The  Blackberry  is  subject  to  the  attacks  of  several  spe- 
cies of  gall-insects.     A  fuzzy,  prickly  gall  on  the  twigs 
¥is  produced  by  a  four-winged  fly  (Diastrophus 
cuscutceformis  0.  S. )     Another  species  of  the 
same  genus  (Diastrophus  nebulosus  0.  S. )  pro- 
duces a  large  pithy  gall  on  canes,  but  both 
of    these   gall-makers    have    very  formidable 
Fi£.  131.    parasitic  enemies  which  keep  them  in  check. 
r-^ere  are  a^so  a  ^ew  leaf -eating  beetles,  slugs 
and   caterpillars,  that   sometimes   attack  the 
Blackberry,  but  they  are    seldom  sufficiently  numerous 
or  injurious  to  attract    much    attention.      The    larger 
species  are  readily  destroyed  by  hand-gathering,  and  the 
smaller  ones  can  usually  be  driven  off  by  dusting  the 
plants  with  lime. 

The  most  formidable  enemy  however  of  both  the  Black- 
berry and  Easpberry  is  the  Orange-rust,  a  minute  fungus 
( Uredo  ruborum).  It  is  perhaps  more  abundant  on  the 
Black-cap  Easpberry  (Rubus  occidentalis)  than  on  the 
ordinary  varieties  of  the  Blackberry;  still  it  is  sufficiently 
abundant  and  destructive  to  all  to  attract  the  attention 
of  horticulturists  throughout  the  country.  I  do  not 
know  of  any  remedy  except  to  stamp  out  the  disease  by 


OF  THE   FARM   AHD   GARDEH.  213 

rooting  up  every  affected  plant  and  burning  it.  It  may 
be  that  applications  of  lime,  salt,  or  some  similar  sub- 
stance would  check  the  disease,  and  while  these  may  be 
safely  tried  as  preventive  measures,  the  destroying  of  all 
infested  plants  should  not  be  omitted. 


THE   RASPBERRY. 

As  the  Raspberry  is  closely  allied  to  the  Blackberry, 

and  belongs  to  the  same  genus,  the 

diseases  and  insects  infesting  both  do 

not  materially  differ.  Some  few  spe- 
cies of  insects  seem  to  prefer  the  Rasp- 
berry, notably  among  which  is  what 

is  called  the  the  Red-necked  Bu- 
pestris  (Agrilus  ruficol- 
lis,  fig.  132),  a  small 
beetle  that  seems  to  be 
particularly  fond  of  the 
red  and  black-cap  vari- 
eties, but  will  occasion- 
ally attack  the  Black- 
berry. The  larva  bores 
into  the  canes  in  sum- 
mer, causing  large  ex- 
crescences or  galls  (fig. 

133),  checking  the  flow  of  sap,  and 

causing  the  death  of  the  cane.     This 

insect  seems  to  be  far  more  plentiful 

in  the  Western  than  Eastern  States; 

but  it  is  widely  distributed,  and  every 

cultivator  of   the   Raspberry  may  as 

well   be  on   the  lookout   for  it,   and 

gather  and  burn  all  canes  upon  which  galls  of  any  kind 

are  found. 


Fig.  132. 

RED-NECKED    BTJ- 
PESTRIS. 


133.— GALLS  IN 
RASPBERRY   CANE. 


214 


INJURIOUS  INSECTS 


THE    SNOWY  TREE-CRICKET. 
(CEcanthus  niveus,  Harris.) 

The  Snowy  Tree-Cricket,  fig.  134,  prefers  the  canes  of 
the  Raspberry  for  its  eggs  to  the  twigs  of  other  shrubs  or 
trees.  It  will,  however,  use  the  Grape, 
Willow,  Peach,  and  other  kinds,  if 
Raspberries  are  not  convenient.  The 
long,  slender  eggs  are  deposited  in  a 
close  compact  row,  an  inch  or  more 
in  length,  each  egg  placed  at  a  slight 
angle,  and  deep  enough  to  reach  the  d 
pith  of  the  cane  or  twig  in  which  it 
is  set  (fig.  135).  This  weakens  the 


Fig.  134.— SNOWY  TREE-CRICKET  ((Ecan- 
thm  niveus.) 

canes,  and  they  are  often  broken  off 
by  the  wind.  This  injury  does  not 
amount  to  much,  but  the  perfect 
insect  has  a  very  bad  habit  of  cutting 
off  leaves  in  summer;  and  sometimes 
extends  its  mischievous  work  to  the 
grape-vine,  trimming  off  both  leaves  m_  EGGS 

and  fruit,  working  at  night  when  per-  SNOWY  TREE-CRICKET. 
fectly  safe  from  observation  or  moles-  *gS%8S*  ^em-Tfcgg 
tation.  One  of  my  correspondents  in 
Texas  wrote  me,  a  few  years  ago,  that  one  of  these  pests 
would  completely  defoliate  a  young  grape-vine  in  a  sin- 
gle night,  and  he  was  a  long  time  in  discerning  the 
successful  nocturnal  pruner,  and  when  discovered  he  was 
at  a  loss  how  to  circumvent  it.  Destroying  the  eggs  is 
the  only  way  thus  far  known  of  fighting  this  insect. 


#ft$t  LIB/. 

//     v 
OF  THE  FARM   AND   GAKDEtf.  &15 

THE   GEAPE-VINE. 
THE    HOG-CATERPILLAR   OF   THE   VINE. 

(Chcerocampa  pampinatrix,  Smith  &  Abbott.) 

Of  the  large,  solitary  caterpillars  that  attack  the  Grape- 
vine, this  is  by  far  the  most  common  and  injurious  in  the 
Mississippi  Valley.  We  have  frequently  found  the  egg 
of  this  insect  glued  singly  to  the  underside  of  a  leaf.  It  is 
0.05  inch  in  diameter,  perfectly  round,  and  of  a  uniform 


Fig.  136.— HOG-CATERPILLAR  OF  THE  VINE  (Chcerocampa  pampinatrix.) 


delicate  yellowish-green  color.  The  young  worm  which 
hatches  from  it,  is  pale-green,  with  a  long  straight  horn 
at  its  tail;  and  after  feeding  from  four  to  five  weeks  it 
acquires  its  full  growth,  when  it  presents  the  appearance 
of  figure  136,  the  horn  having  become  comparatively 
shorter  and  acquired  a  posterior  curve. 

This  worm  is  readily  distinguished  from  other  grape- 
feeding  species  by  having  the  third  and  fourth  rings  im- 
mensely swollen,  while  the  first  and  second  rings  are 


216  ItfJUKIOUS  INSECTS 

quite  small  and  retractile.  It  is  from  this  peculiar  ap- 
pearance of  the  fore  part  of  the  body,  which  strikingly 
suggests  the  fat  cheeks  and  shoulders  and  small  head  of 
some  breeds  of  swine,  that  it  may  best  be  known  as  the 
Hog-caterpillar  of  the  vine.  The  color  of  this  worm 
when  full  grown  is  pea-green,  and  it  is  wrinkled  trans- 
versely and  covered  with  numerous  pale-yellow  dots, 
placed  in  irregular  transverse  rows.  An  oblique  cream- 
colored  lateral  band,  bordered  below  with  a  darker  green 
and  most  distinct  on  the  middle  segments,  connects  with 
a  cream-colored  subdorsal  line,  which  is  bordered  above 
with  darker  green,  and  which  extends  from  the  head  to 
the  horn  at  the  tail.  There  are  five  and  often  six  some- 
what pale-yellow  trian- 
gular patches  along  the 
back,  each  containing  a 
lozenge-shaped  lilac-col- 
ored spot.  The  head  is 
small,  with  yellow  granu- 


Fig.     137. — CHRYSALIS    OF    HOG-CATER- 
PILLAR, dicular  yellow  lines,  and 

the  stigmata  or  spiracles 

are  orange-brown.  When  about  to  transform,  the  color  of 
this  worm  usually  changes  to  a  pinkish-brown,  the  darker 
parts  being  of  a  beautiful  mixture  of  crimson  and  brown. 
Previous  to  this  change  of  color  Mr.  J.  A.  Lintner  has 
observed  the  worm  to  pass  its  mouth  over  the  entire  sur- 
face of  its  body,  even  to  the  tip  of  its  horn,  covering  it 
with  a  coating  of  apparently  glutinous  matter — the  oper- 
ation lasting  about  two  hours.  Before  transforming  into 
the  pupa  or  chrysalis  state,  it  descends  from  the  vine^ 
and  within  some  fallen  leaf  or  under  any  other  rubbish 
that  may  be  lying  on  the  ground,  forms  a  mesh  of  strong 
brown  silk,  within  which  it  soon  changes  to  a  chrysalis 
(fig.  137)  of  a  pale,  warm  yellow, speckled  and  spotted  with 
brown,  but  characterized  chiefly  by  the  conspicuous  dark 


OF  THE   FARM  AND   GARDEN. 

brown  spiracles  and  broad  brown  incisures  of  the  three 
larger  abdominal  segments. 

The  moth  (fig.  138)  which  in  time  bursts  from  this 
chrysalis,  has  the  body  and  front  wings  of  a  fleshy-gray, 
marked  and  shaded  with  olive-green,  while  the  hind 
wings  are  of  a  deep  rust-color,  with  a  small  shade  of 
gray  near  their  inner  angle. 

This  insect  is  in  northerly  regions  one-brooded,  but 
towards  the  south  two-brooded,  the  first  worms  appear- 
ing in  the  latitude  of  St.  Louis,  during  June  and  July, 
and  giving  out  the  moths  about  two  weeks  after  they 
become  chrysalids,  or  from  the  middle  of  July  to  the  first 


Fig.   138. — MOTH  OF  HOG-CATERPILLAR. 

of  August.  The  second  brood  of  worms  are  full  grown 
in  September  and,  passing  the  winter  in  the  chrysalis 
state,  give  out  the  moths  the  following  May.  On  one 
occasion  we  found  at  South  Pass,  111.,  a  worm  half 
grown  and  still  feeding  as  late  as  October  20th,  a  circum- 
stance which  would  lead  to  the  belief,  that  at  points 
where  the  winters  are  mild  they  may  even  hibernate  in 
the  larva  state. 

This  worm  is  a  most  voracious  feeder,  and  a  single  one 
will  sometimes  strip  a  small  vine  of  its  leaves  in  a  few 
nights.  According  to  Harris  it  does  not  even  confine  its 
attacks  to  the  leaves,  but  in  its  progress  from  leaf  to 
leaf,  stops  at  every  cluster  of  fruit,  and  either  from 
10 

K 


218  INJUKIOUS   IKSECTS 

stupidity,  or  disappointment,  nips  off  the  stalks  of  the 
half-grown  grapes  and  allows  them  to  fall  to  the  ground 
untasted.  It  is  fortunate  for  the  grape-grower  therefore 
that  Nature  has  furnished  the  ready  means  to  prevent  its 
ever  becoming  excessively  numerous,  for  we  have  never 
known  it  to  swarm  in  very  great  numbers.  The  obvious 
reason  is,  that  it  is  so  freely  attacked  by  a  small  parasitic 
Ichneumon-fly — belonging  to  a  genus  (Microgaster)  ex- 
ceedingly numerous  in  species — that  three  out  of  every 
four  worms  we  meet  with  will  generally  be  found  to  be 
thus  victimized.  The  eggs  of  the  parasite  are  deposited 
within  the  body  of  the  worm,  while  it  is  yet  young,  and 
the  young  maggots  hatching  from  them  feed  on  the  fatty 
parts  of  their  victim.  After  the  last  moult  of  a  worm 
that  has  been  thus  attacked,  numerous  little  heads  may 
be  seen  gradually  pushing  through  different  parts  of  its 
body;  and  as  soon  as  they  have  worked  themselves  so  far 
out  that  they  are  held  only  by  the  last  joint  of  the  body, 
they  commence  forming  their  small  snow-white  cocoons, 
which  stand  on  end,  pushes  open  a  little  lid  which  it  had 
previously  cut  with  its  jaws,  and  soars  away  to  fulfil  its 
mission.  It  is  one  of  those  remarkable  and  not  easily 
explained  facts,  which  often  confront  the  student  of  Na- 
ture, that,  while  one  of  these  Hog-caterpillars  in  its  nor- 
mal and  healthy  condition  may  be  starved  to  death  in 
two  or  three  days,  another  that  is  writhing  with  its 
body  full  of  parasites  will  live  without  food  for  as 
many  weeks.  Indeed  we  have  known  one  to  rest  for 
three  weeks  without  food  in  a  semi-paralyzed  condition, 
and  after  the  parasitic  flies  had  all  escaped  from  their 
cocoons,  it  would  rouse  itself  and  make  a  desperate 
effort  to  regain  strength  by  nibbling  at  a  leaf  which 
was  offered  to  it.  But  all  worms  thus  attacked  suc- 
cumb in  the  end,  and  the  grape-grower  should  let 
alone  all  such  as  are  found  to  be  covered  with  white 
cocoons,  and  not,  as  has  been  often  done,  destroy  them 


OF  THE   FARM   AKD   GARDEN". 

under  the  false  impression  that  the  cocoons  are  the  eggs 
of  the  worm.  The  cocoons  of  a  parasite  are  shown  upon 
another  large  larva,  on  page  88;  figure  59. 

THE    ACHEMON    SPHINX. 
(Philampelus  achemon,  Drury.) 

This  is  another  large  Grape-vine-feeding  insect,  belong- 
ing to  the  great  Sphinx  family,  and  which  may  be  popu- 
larly known  as  the  Achemon  Sphinx.  It  has  been  found 
in  almost  every  State  where  the  Grape  is  cultivated,  and 
also  in  Canada.  It  feeds  on  the  American  Woodbine 
or  Virginia  Creeper  (Ampelopsis  quinquefolia)  with  as 
much  relish  as  on  the  Grape-vine,  and  seems  to  show  no 
preference  for  any  of  the  different  varieties  of  the  latter. 
It  is,  however,  worthy  of  remark,  that  both  its  food- 
plants  belong  to  the  same  Botanical  Family. 

The  full  grown  worm  or  larva  is  usually  found  during 
the  latter  part  of  August  and  fore  part  of  September.  It 
measures  about  three  and  one-half  inches  when  crawling, 
which  operation  is  effected  by  a  series  of  sudden  jerks. 
The  third  segment  is  the  largest,  the  second  but  half  its 
size,  and  the  first  still  smaller,  and  when  at  rest  the  two 
last  mentioned  segments  are  partly  withdrawn  into  the 
third.  The  young  larva  is  green,  with  a  long  slender 
reddish  horn  rising  from  the  eleventh  segment  and  curv- 
ing over  the  back,  and  though  we  have  found  full  grown 
specimens  that  were  equally  as  green  as  the  younger 
ones,  they  more  generally  assume  a  pale-straw  or  red- 
dish-brown color,  and  the  long  recurved  horn  is  invaria- 
bly replaced  by  a  highly  polished  lenticular  tubercle. 
It  is  often  of  a  pale-straw  color  which  deepens  at 
the  sides  and  finally  merges  into  a  rich  vandyke- 
brown.  The  worm  is  covered  more  or  less  with  minute 
spots  which  are  dark  on  the  back  but  light  and  annulated 


220  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

at  the  sides,  while  there  are  from  six  to  eight  transverse 
wrinkles  on  all  but  the  thoracic  and  caudal  segments. 

The  color  of  the  worm,  when  about  to  transform,  is 
often  of  a  most  beautiful  pink  or  crimson.  The  chrysa- 
lis is  formed  within  a  smooth  cavity  under  ground.  It 
is  of  a  dark  shiny  mahogany-brown  color,  shagreened  or 
roughened,  especially  at  the  anterior  edge  of  the  seg- 
ments on  the  back. 

Unlike  the  Hog-caterpillar  of  the  Vine,  this  insect  is 
everywhere  single-brooded,  the  chrysalis  remaining  in  the 
ground  through  the  fall,  winter,  and  spring  months,  and 
producing  the  moth  towards  the  latter  part  of  June. 

The  moth  is  of  a  brown-gray  color,  handsomely  varie- 
gated with  light-brown,  and  with  dark  deep  brown  spots. 
The  hind  wings  are  pink  with  a  dark  shade  across  the 
middle,  still  darker  spots  below  this  shade,  and  a  broad 
gray  border  behind. 

We  have  never  found  any  parasite  attacking  this  spe- 
cies, but  its  solitary  habit  and  large  size  make  it  a  con- 
spicuous object,  and  it  is  easily  controlled  by  hand,  when- 
ever it  becomes  unduly  numerous  upon  the  Grape-vine. 

THE    SATELLITE    SPHINX. 
(Philampelus  satellitia,  Linn.) 

Like  the  Achemon  Sphinx,  this  insect  occurs  in  almost 
every  State  in  the  Union.  It  also  bears  a  strong  resem- 
blance to  the  former  species,  and  likewise  feeds  upon  the 
Virginia  Creeper  (Ampelopsis),  as  well  as  upon  the  Grape- 
vine; but  the  worm  may  be  distinguished  by  having  five- 
cream-colored  spots  each  side,  instead  of  six,  and  by  the 
spots  themselves  being  less  scalloped. 

In  the  latitude  of  St.  Louis,  this  worm  is  found  full 
grown  throughout  the  month  of  September,  and  a  few 
specimens  may  even  be  found  as  late  as  the  last  of  Octo- 


OF   THE   FA11M   AND   GARDEN. 


ber.  The  eggs  of  this  species,  as  of  all  other  Hawk- 
moths  (Sphinx  family)  known  to  us,  are  glued  singly  to 
the  leaf  of  the  plant  which  is  to  furnish  the  future  worm 
with  food.  When  first  hatched,  and  for  some  time  after- 


Fig.   139. — CATERPILLAR  OF  SATELLITE  SPHINX  (PMlampdus  satellitia, 

Linn.) 
a,  Mature  Larva  ;  &,  at  rest ;  c,  Young  Larva. 

wards,  the  larva  is  green,  with  a  tinge  of  pink  along  the 
sides,  and  with  an  immensely  long  straight  pink  horn  at 
the  tail.  This  horn  begins  to  shorten,  and  finally  curls 
round  like  a  dog's  tail,  as  at  figure  139,  c.  As  the  worm 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

grows  older  it  changes  to  a  reddish-brown,  and  by  the 
third  moult  it  entirely  loses  the  horn. 

When  full  grown,  it  measures  nearly  four  inches  in 
length,  and  when  crawling  appears  as  figure  139,  a.  It 
crawls  by  a  series  of  sudden  jerks,  and  will  often  fling  its 
head  savagely  from  side  to  side  when  alarmed.  Dr. 
Morris  describes  the  mature  larva  as  being  green,  with 
six  side  patches;  but  though  we  have  happened  across 
many  specimens  of  this  worm  during  the  last  seven  years, 
we  never  once  found  one  that  was  green  after  the  third 
moult;  nor  do  we  believe  that  there  are  ever  any  more 
than  five  full-sized  yellow  spots  each  side,  even  in  the 
young  individuals.  The  specimen  from  which  our  figure 
was  made,  occurred  at  Hermann,  Missouri,  in  Mr.  George 
Husmann's  former  vineyard.  The  back  was  pinkish, 
inclining  to  flesh- color;  the  sides  gradually  became 
darker  and  darker,  and  the  five  patches  on  segments  6 
to  10  inclusive,  were  cream-yellow  with  a  black  annula- 
tion,  and  shaped  as  in  our  figure.  On  segments  2,  3,  4, 
5  and  6,  were  numerous  small  black  dots,  but  on  each  of 
the  following  five  segments  there  were  but  two  such  dots. 
A  pale  longitudinal  line  ran  above  the  yellow  patches, 
and  the  head  and  first  joint  were  uniformly  dull  reddish- 
brown. 

The  most  common  general  color  of  the  full  grown 
worm  is  a  rich  velvety  vinous-brown.  When  at  rest,  it 
draws  back  the  fore  part  of  the  body,  and  retracts  the 
head  and  first  two  joints  into  the  third  (fig.  139,  £),  and 
in  this  motionless  position  it  no  doubt  manages  to 
escape  from  the  clutches  of  many  a  hungry  insectivorous 
bird. 

When  about  to  transform,  the  larva  of  our  Satellite 
Sphinx  enters  a  short  distance  into  the  ground,  and  soon 
works  off  its  caterpillar-skin  and  becomes  a  chrysalis  of  a 
deep  chestnut-brown.  The  moth  (fig.  140)  makes  its 
appearance  in  June  of  the  following  year,  though  it  has 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


223 


been  known  to  issue  the  same  year  that  it  had  existed 
as  larva.  In  this  last  event,  it  doubtless  becomes  barren, 
like  others  under  similar  circumstances.  The  colors  of 


the  moth  are  light  olive-gray,  variegated  as  in  the  figure 
with  dark  olive-green.  The  worms  are  easily  subdued 
by  hand-picking. 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


THE    ABBOT   SPHINX. 
(Thyreus  Abbotii,  Swainson.) 

This  is  another  of  the  large  Grape-feeding  insects,  oc- 
curring on  the  cultivated  and  indigenous  vines  and  on 
the  Virginia  Creeper,  and  having,  in  the  full  grown 
larva  state,  a  polished  tubercle  instead  of  a  horn  at  the 
tail.  Its  habitat  is  given  by  Dr.  Clemens,  as  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  Georgia,  Massachusetts,  and  Ohio;  but 
though  not  so  common  as  the  Sphinx  Moths  already 
described,  yet  it  is  often  met  with  both  in  Illinois  and 


Fig.  141.— THE  ABBOT  SPHINX  ( Thyreus  Abbotii,  Swain.) 
Larva  and  Moth. 


Missouri.  The  larva  which  is  represented  in  the  upper 
part  of  figure  141  varies  considerably  in  appearance. 
Indeed,  the  ground-color  seems  to  depend  in  a  measure 
on  the  sex,  for  Dr.  Morris  describes  this  larva  as  reddish- 
brown  with  numerous  patches  of  light-green,  and  express- 
ly states  that  the  female  is  of  a  uniform  reddish-brown, 
with  an  interrupted  dark-brown  dorsal  line  and  trans- 
verse striae  lines.  We  have  reared  two  individuals  which 


THE 

/Ft!  W  T  \ 

OF   THE    FARM   AND   GARDE 


Nis 

came  to  their  growth  about  the  last  of 
time  they  were  both  without  a  vestige  of  green.  The 
ground-color  was  dirty  yellowish,  especially  at  the  sides. 
Each  segment  was  marked  transversely  with  six  or  seven 
slightly  impressed  fine  black  lines,  and  longitudinally 
with  wider  non-impressed  dark-brown  patches,  alternat- 
ing with  each  other,  and  giving  the  worm  a  checkered 
appearance.  These  patches  become  more  dense  along 
the  subdorsal  region,  where  they  form  two  irregular  dark 
lines,  which  on  the  thoracic  segments  become  single, 
with  a  similar  line  between  them.  There  was  also  a 
dark  stigmatal  line  with  a  lighter  shade  above  it,  and  a 
dark  stripe  running  obliquely  downwards  from  the  pos- 
terior to  the  anterior  portion  of  each  segment.  The 
belly  was  yellow  with  a  tinge  of  pink  between  the  pro- 
legs,  and  the  shiny  tubercle  at  the  tail  was  black,  with  a 
yellowish  ring  around  the  base.  The  head,  which  is 
characteristically  marked,  and  by  which  this  worm  can 
always  be  distinguished  from  its  allies — no  matter  what 
the  ground-color  of  the  body  may  be — is  slightly  rough- 
ened and  dark,  with  a  lighter  broad  band  each  side,  and 
a  central  mark  down  the  middle  which  often  takes  the 
form  of  an  X-  This  worm  does  not  assume  the  common 
Sphinx  attitude  of  holding  up  the  head,  but  rests 
stretched  at  full  length,  though  if  disturbed  it  will  throw 
its  head  from  side  to  side,  thereby  producing  a  crepitating 
noise. 

The  chrysalis  is  formed  in  a  superficial  cell  on  the 
ground;  its  surface  is  black  and  roughened  by  confluent 
punctures,  but  between  the  joints  it  is  smooth  and  in- 
clines to  brown;  the  head-case  is  broad  and  rounded,  and 
the  tongue-case  is  level  with  the  breast;  the  tail  termi- 
nates in  a  rough  flattened  wedge-shaped  point,  which 
gives  out  extremely  small  thorns  from  the  end. 

The  Moth  (figure  141,)  appears  in  the  following 
March  or  April,  there  being  but  one  brood  each  year.  It 


226  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

is  of  a  dull  chocolate  or  grayish-brown  color,  the  front 
wings  becoming  lighter  beyond  the  middle,  and  being 
variegated  with  dark  brown  as  in  the  figure;  the  hind 
wings  are  sulphur-yellow,  with  a  broad  dark-brown  bor- 
der breaking  into  a  series  of  short  lines  on  a  flesh-colored 
ground,  near  the  body.  The  wings  are  deeply  scalloped, 
especially  the  front  ones,  and  the  body  is  furnished  with 
lateral  tufts.  When  at  rest,  the  abdomen  is  curiously 
curved  up  in  the  air. 

THE  BLUE  CATERPILLARS  OF  THE  VINE. 

Besides  the  large  Sphinx  caterpillars,  described  and  fig- 
ured on  the  preceding  pages,  every  grape-grower  must  have 
observed  certain  so-called  "Blue  Caterpillars,"  which, 
though  far  from  being  uncommon,  are  yet  very  rarely 
sufficiently  numerous  to  cause  alarm,  though  in  some  few 
cases  they  have  been  known  to  strip  certain  vines.  There 
are  three  distinct  species  of  these  blue  caterpillars,  which 
bear  a  Sufficient  resemblance  to  one  another,  to  cause 
them  to  be  easily  confounded.  The  first  and  by  far  the 
most  common  in  the  West,  is  the  larva  of 

THE  EIGHT-SPOTTED  FORESTER. 
(Alypia  octomaculata,  Fabr.) 

This  larva  (fig.  142,  #),  may  often  be  found  in  the  lati- 
tude of  St.  Louis  as  early  as  the  beginning  of  May,  and 
more  abundantly  in  June,  while  scattering  individuals 
(probably  of  a  second  brood)  are  even  met  with,  but  half- 
grown,  in  the  month  of  September.  The  young  larvae 
are  whitish  with  transverse  lines,  the  colors  not  con- 
trasting so  strongly  as  in  the  full-grown  specimens, 
though  the  black  spots  are  more  conspicuous.  They  feed 
beneath  the  leaves  and  can  let  themselves  down  by  a  web. 


OF   THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


227 


The  full-grown  larva  often  conceals  itself  within  a  folded 
leaf.  It  is  of  the  form  of  our  figure,  and  is  marked 
transversely  with  white  and  black  lines,  each  segment 
having  about  eight  light  and  eight  dark  ones.  The  blu- 
ish appearance  of  this  caterpillar  is  owing  to  an  optical 
phenomenon  from  the  contrast  of  these  white  and  black 
stripes.  The  head  and  the  shield  on  the  first  segment 
are  of  a  shiny  bright  deep  orange  color,  marked  with 
black  dots,  and  there  is  a  prominent  transverse  orange- 
red  band,  faint  on  segment  2  and  3,  conspicuous  on  4 
and  11,  and  uniform  in  the  middle  of  each  of  the  other 
segments.  In  the  middle 
segments  of  the  body  each 
orange  band  contains  eight 
black  elevated  spots,  each 
spot  giving  rise  to  a  white 
hair.  These  spots  are  ar- 
ranged as  in  the  enlarged 
section  shown  in  the  en- 
graving (fig.  142,  b),  name- 
ly, four  on  each  side,  as 
follows:  the  upper  one  on 
the  anterior  border  of  the 
orange  band,  the  second  on 
its  posterior  border,  the 
third  just  above  spiracles 

on  its  anterior  border  —  each  of  the  three  interrupting  one 
of  the  transverse  black  lines  —  and  the  fourth,  which  is 
smaller,  just  behind  the  spiracles.  The  venter  is  black, 
slightly  variegated  with  bluish-white,  and  with  the  orange 
band  extending  on  the  legless  segment.  The  legs  are 
black,  and  the  false  legs  have  two  black  spots  on  an 
orange  ground,  at  their  outer  base,  but  the  characteris- 
tic feature,  which  especially  distinguishes  it  from  the 
other  two  species,  is  a  lateral  white  wavy  band  —  obsolete 
on  the  thoracic  segments,  and  most  conspicuous  on  10 


142.—  EIGHT-SPOTTED  FORESTER 

(Alypia  octomuculata,  Fabr.) 

«,  Larva  ;  *>,  section  ;  c,  Moth. 


228  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

and  11 — running  just  below  the  spiracles,  and  interrupt- 
ed by  the  transverse  orange  band. 

This  larva  transforms  to  chrysalis  within  a  very  slight 
cocoon  formed  without  silk,  upon,  or  just  below,  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth,  and  issues  soon  after,  as  a  very  beautiful 
moth  of  a  deep  blue-black  color,  with  orange  shanks, 
yellow  shoulder-pieces,  each  of  the  front  wings  with  two 
large  light  yellow  spots,  and  each  of  the  hind  wings  with 
two  white  ones.  Figure  142,  c,  represents  the  female,  and 
the  male  differs  from  her  in  having  the  wing  spots  larger, 
and  in  having  a  conspicuous  white  mark  along  the  top 
of  his  narrower  abdomen. 

We  have  on  one  or  two  occasions  known  vines  to  be 
partly  defoliated  by  this  species,  but  never  knew  it  to  be 
quite  so  destructive  as  it  often  is  in  some  Eastern  local- 
ities. In  New  York  City  the  vines  in  the  yards  are  often 
completely  stripped  of  their  foliage  through  the  agency 
of  this  and  related  caterpillars. 

THE  BEAUTIFUL  WOOD  NYMPH. 
(Eudryas  grata,  Fabr). 

Here  is  another  moth  which  surpasses  in  real  beauty, 
though  not  in  high  contrast,  the  species  just  de- 
scribed. The  front  wings  are  milk-white,  broadly  bor- 
dered and  marked  on  their  margins  with  rusty-brown, 
the  band  on  the  outer  margin  being  shaded  on  the  inner 
side  with  olive-green,  and  marked  towards  the  edge  with 
a  slender  wavy  white  line :  under  surface  yellow,  with  two 
dusky  spots  near  the  middle.  The  hind  wings  are  nan- 
kin-yellow, with  a  deep-brown  border,  which  does  not 
extend  to  the  outer  angle,  and  which  also  contains  a 
wavy  white  line:  under  surface  yellow,  with  a  single 
black  spot. 

Surely  these  two  moths  are  as  unlike  in  general  appear- 
ance as  two  moths  well  can  be;  and  yet  their  caterpillars 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  229 

bear  such  a  close  resemblance  to  each  other,  and  both 
feed  upon  the  Grape-vine.  The  larva  of  the  Beautiful 
Wood  Nymph  is,  in  fact,  so  very  similar  to  that  of  the 
Eight-spotted  Forester,  that  it  is  entirely  unnecessary  to 
figure  it.  It  differs  more  especially  from  that  species  by 
invariably  lacking  the  white  patches  along  the  sides;  the 
hairs  arising  from  the  black  spots  are  less  conspicuous, 
while  the  hump  on  the  eleventh  segment  is  somewhat 
more  prominent.  The  light  parts  of  the  body  have 
really  a  slight  bluish  tint,  and  in  specimens  which  we 
have  found,  we  have  only  noticed  six  transverse  black 
stripes  to  each  segment.  This  larva,  when  at  rest,  de- 
presses the  head  and  raises  the  third  and  fourth  segments, 
Sphinx-fashion.  It  is  found  on  the  vines  in  Missouri 
as  early  as  May  and  as  late  as  September,  and  it  devours 
all  portions  of  the  leaf,  even  to  the  midrib.  It  descends 
to  the  ground,  and,  without  making  any  cocoon,  trans- 
forms to  a  chrysalis,  which  is  dark  colored,  rough,  with 
the  tip  of  the  abdomen  obtusely  conical,  ending  in 
four  tubercles,  the  pair  above,  long  and  truncate,  those 
below  broad  and  short.  Some  of  them  give  out  the  moth 
the  same  summer,  but  most  of  them  pass  the  winter  and 
do  not  issue  as  moths  until  the  following  spring. 

THE  PEARL  WOOD  NYMPH. 
(Eudryas  unio,  Hiibner). 

This  little  moth  is  also  closely  allied  to,  and  much  re- 
sembling the  preceding  species.  It  is  smaller,  and  differs 
from  the  Beautiful  Wood  Nymph  in  having  the  outer 
border  of  the  front  wings  paler  and  of  a  tawny  color, 
with  the  inner  edge  wavy  instead  of  straight;  and  in  that 
of  the  hind  wings  being  less  distinct,  more  double,  and 
extending  to  the  outer  angle. 

The  larva  is  said  by  Dr.  Fitch  to  so  much  resemble  that 
of  the  preceding  species  that  "  we  as  yet  know  not  whether 


230  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

there  are  any  marks  whereby  they  can  be  distinguished 
from  each  other."  The  moth  is  more  common  in  the 
West  than  its  larger  ally,  and  though  we  have  never  bred 
it  from  the  larva,  yet  we  have  often  met  with  a  worm 
which,  for  various  reasons,  we  take  to  be  this  species. 
It  never  grows  to  be  quite  so  large  as  the  other,  and  may 
readily  be  distinguished  by  its  more  decided  bluish  cast; 
by  having  but  four  light  and  four  dark  stripes  to  each 
segment,  by  having  no  orange  band  across  the  middle  seg- 
ments, and  by  the  spots,  with  the  exception  of  two  on 
the  back  placed  in  the  middle  light  band,  being  almost 
obsolete.  The  head,  shield  on  first  segment,  hump  on 
the  llth,  and  a  band  on  the  12th,  are  orange,  spotted 
with  black.  Venter  orange,  becoming  dusky  towards 
head;  feet  and  legs  also  orange,  with  blackish  extremities, 
and  with  spots  on  their  outside  at  base. 

This  worm  works  for  the  most  part  in  the  terminal 
buds  of  the  vine,  drawing  the  leaves  together  by  a  weak 
silken  thread,  and  cankering  them.  It  forms  a  simple 
earthen  cocoon,  or  frequently  bores  into  a  piece  of  old 
wood,  and  changes  to  chrysalis,  which  averages  but  0.36- 
inch  in  length :  this  chrysalis  is  reddish-brown,  covered 
on  the  back  with  rows  of  very  minute  teeth,  with  the  tip 
of  the  abdomen  truncated,  and  terminating  above  in  a 
thick  blunt  spine  each  side. 

From  the  above  accounts,  we  hope  our  readers  will  have 
no  difficulty  in  distinguishing  between  these  three  blue 
caterpillars  of  the  Grape-vine. 

REMEDIES. — The  larvae  of  the  two  Wood  Nymphs  have 
a  fondness  for  boring  into  old  pieces  of  wood,  to  transform 
to  the  chrysalis  state,  and  Mr.  T.  B.  Ashton,  of  White 
Creek,  N.  Y.,  found  that  they  would  even  bore  into  corn 
cobs  for  this  purpose  in  preference  to  entering  the 
ground,  wherever  such  cobs  were  accessible.  The  Eight- 
spotted  Forester,  on  the  contrary,  has  no  such  habit,  and 
while  the  only  mode  of  combating  it  is  to  pick  the  larvae 


OF   THE   FARM   AND    GARDEN.  231 

off  and  burn  them,  the  Wood  Nymphs  may  be  more 
easily  subdued  by  scattering  a  few  corn-cobs  under  the 
vines  in  the  summer — to  be  raked  up  and  burned  in  the 
winter.  It  has  been  suggested  that  many  of  these  moths 
might  be  destroyed  by  exposing  poisoned  molasses  or 
syrup  at  the  time  of  their  appearance  in  spring.  White 
Hellebore  as  described  under  Currant  and  Gooseberry 
would  no  doubt  be  efficacious,  and  good  results  may  be 
expected  to  follow  the  use  of  Pyrethrum,  or  Persian  In- 
sect Powder. 

THE    GRAPE    LEAF-FOLDEK. 

(Desmia  maeulalis,  West.) 

This  has  long  been  known  to  depredate  on  the  leaves 
of  the  Grape-vine  in  many  widely  separated  parts  of 
North  America.  It  is  not  uncommon  in  Canada  West, 
and  is  found  in  the  extreme  southern  parts  of  Georgia. 
It  appears  to  be  far  more  injurious,  however,  in  the  in- 
termediate country,  or  between  latitude  thirty-five  and 
forty  degrees,  than  in  any  other  sections,  and  in  South- 
ern Illinois  and  Central  Missouri  proves  more  or  less  in- 
jurious every  year.  It  belongs  to  the  same  family  as 
our  notorious  Clover-worm,  which  attacks  our  clover 
stacks  and  mows. 

This  genus  is  characterized  by  the  elbowed  or  knotted 
appearance  of  the  male  antennae,  in  contrast  with  the 
smooth,  thread-like  female  antennae;  the  maxillary  palpi 
are  not  visible,  while  the  compressed  and  feathery  labial 
palpi  are  recurved  against  the  eyes,  and  reach  almost  to 
their  summit;  the  body  extends  beyond  the  hind  wings. 
The  moth  of  the  Grape  Leaf -folder  is  a  very  pretty  little 
thing,  expanding  on  an  average  almost  an  inch,  with  a 
length  of  body  of  about  one-third  of  an  inch.  It  is  con- 
spicuously marked,  and  the  sexes  differ  sufficiently  to 
have  given  rise  to  two  names,  the  female  having  been 


232 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


named  Botys  Mcolor.  The  color  is  black,  with  an  opal- 
escent reflection,  and  the  under  surface  differs  only  from 
the  upper  in  being  less  bright;  all  the  wings  are  bordered 
with  white.  The  front  wings  of  both  sexes  are  each  fur- 
nished with  two  white  spots;  but  while  in  the  male 
(fig.  143,4),  there  is  but  one  large  spot  on  the  hind  wings, 
in  the  female  (fig.  143,  5),  this  spot  is  invariably  more  or 
less  constricted  in  the  middle,  especially  above,  and  is 
often  entirely  divided  into  two  distinct  spots.  The  body 
of  the  male  has  but  one  distinct  transverse  band,  and  a 
longitudinal  white  dash  at  its  extremity  superiorly,  Avhile 
that  of  the  female  has  two  white  bands.  The  antennae, 


2  J 

Fig.    143.— GRAPE    LEAF-FOLDER    (Desmia  maculaUs,    West.) 
1,  Worm ;  2,  Head,  etc.,  enlarged  ;  3,  Chrysalis  ;  4,  Male ;  5,  Female. 

as  already  stated,  are  still  more  characteristic,  those  of 
the  male  being  elbowed  and  thickened  near  the  middle, 
while  those  of  the  female  are  simple  and  thread-like. 

There  are  two  broods  in  this  latitude — and  probably 
three  farther  south — during  the  year;  the  first  moths  ap- 
pearing in  June,  the  second  in  August,  and  the  worms 
produced  from  these  last  hibernating  in  the  chrysalis 
state.  The  eggs  are  scattered  in  small  patches  over  the 
vines,  and  the  worms  are  found  of  all  sizes  at  the  same 
time.  These  last  change  to  chrysalids  in  twenty-four  to 
thirty  days  from  hatching,  and  give  forth  the  moths  in 
about  a  week  afterwards. 

The  worm  (fig.  143, 1),  folds  rather  than  rolls  the  leaf, 


OF   THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  233 

by  fastening  two  portions  together  by  its  silken  threads; 
and  for  this  reason,  in  contradistinction  to  the  many  leaf- 
rollers,  may  be  popularly  known  as  the  "  Grape  Leaf- 
folder."  It  is  of  a  glass-green  color,  and  very  active, 
wriggling,  jumping  and  jerking  either  way  at  every  touch. 
The  head  and  thoracic  segments  are  marked  as  at  figure 
143,  2.  If  let  alone  these  worms  will  soon  defoliate  a 
vine,  and  the  best  method  of  destroying  them  is  by 
crushing  suddenly  within  the  leaf,  with  both  hands.  To 
prevent  their  appearance,  however,  requires  far  less 
trouble.  The  chrysalis  is  formed  within  the  fold  of  the 
leaf,  and  by  going  over  the  vineyard  in  October,  or  any 
time  before  the  leaves  fall,  and  carefully  plucking  and 
destroying  all  those  that  are  folded  and  crumpled,  the 
supply  for  the  following  year  will  be  cut  off.  This  should 
be  done  collectively  to  be  positively  effectual,  for  the 
utmost  vigilance  will  avail  but  little  if  one  is  surrounded 
with  slovenly  neighbors. 

We  believe  this  insect  shows  no  preference  for  any  par- 
ticular kind  of  grape-vine,  having  found  it  on  all  the 
cultivated,  as  well  as  the  wild  varieties.  Its  natural  ene- 
mies are  Spiders,  Wasps,  and  a  small  Tachina  fly,  which 
attacks  it  in  the  larva  state,  and  a  small  clay-yellow 
beetle  is  supposed  to  attack  it. 

THE    COMMON    YELLOW    BEAR. 
(Spilosoma  Virginica,  Fabr.) 

This  is  one  of  the  most  common  North  American  in- 
sects. The  moth,  which  is  very  generally  dubbed  "the 
Miller,"  frequently  flies  into  our  rooms  at  night. 

Though  the  moth  is  so  common,  how  few  persons  ever 
think  of  it  as  the  parent  of  that  frequent  and  most  trouble- 
some of  caterpillars,  which  Harris  has  so  aptly  termed 
the  Yellow  Bear.  These  caterpillars  are  quite  frequently 


234  INJUKIOUS   INSECTS 

found  on  the  Grape-vine,  and  when  about  one-fourth 
grown  bear  a  considerable  resemblance  to  the  mature 
larva  of  the  Grape-vine  Plume.  They  seldom  appear, 
however,  until  that  species  has  disappeared,  and  may 
always  be  distinguished  from  it  by  their  semi-gregarious 
habit  at  this  time  of  their  life,  and  by  living  exposed 
on  the  leaf  (generally  the  underside)  instead  of  forming 
a  retreat  within  which  to  hide  themselves,  as  does  the 
Plume. 

The  Yellow  Bear  is  found  of  all  sizes  from  June  to 
October;  and  though  quite  fond  of  the  Vine,  is  by  no 
means  confined  to  that  plant.  It  is,  in  fact,  a  very  gen- 
eral feeder,  being  found  on  a  great  variety  of  herbaceous 
plants,  both  wild  and  cultivated,  as  butternut,  lilac, 
beans,  peas,  convolvulus,  corn,  currant,  gooseberry,  cot- 
ton, sunflower,  plantain,  smart-weed,  verbenas,  gera- 
niums, and  almost  any  other  plant  with  soft,  tender 
leaves.  These  caterpillars  are  indeed  so  indifferent  as  to 
their  diet,  that  we  have  actually  known  one  to  subsist 
entirely,  from  the  time  it  cast  its  last  skin  till  it  spun  up, 
on  dead  bodies  of  the  Camel  Cricket  (Mantis  Carolina). 

When  young  they  are  invariably  bluish-white,  but 
when  full  grown  they  may  be  found  either  of  a  pale 
cream-color,  yellow,  light  brown,  or  very  dark-brown, 
the  different  colors  often  appearing  in  the  same  brood  of 
worms,  as  we  have  proved  by  experiment.  Yellow  is  the 
most  common  color,  and  in  all  the  varieties  the  venter  is 
dark,  and  there  is  a  characteristic  longitudinal  black 
line,  more  or  less  interrupted,  along  each  side  of  the 
body,  and  a  transverse  line  of  the  same  color  (sometimes 
faint)  between  the  joints;  the  head  and  feet  are  ochre- 
yellow,  and  the  hairs  spring  from  dark  yellow  warts,  of 
which  there  are  ten  on  each  joint,  those  on  joint  1  being 
scarcely  distinguishable,  and  those  on  joint  12  coalescing. 
There  are  two  broods  of  these  worms  each  year,  the 
broods  intermixing,  and  the  last  passing  the  winter  in  the 


OF   THE   FARM    AND    GARDEN.  235 

chrysalis  state.  The  chrysalis  is  formed  in.  a  trivial 
cocoon,  constructed  almost  entirely  of  the  caterpillar's 
hairs,  which,  though  held  in  position  by  a  few  very 
fine  silken  threads,  are  fastened  together  mainly  by 
the  interlocking  of  their  minute  barbs,  and  the  manner 
in  which  the  caterpillar  interweaves  them. 

The  best  time  to  destroy  these  worms  is  soon  after 
they  hatch  from  their  little  round  yellow  eggs,  which 
are  deposited  in  clusters;  for,  as  already  intimated,  they 
then  feed  together. 

THE  GRAPE-VINE  PLUME. 
(Pterophorus  periscelidactylus,  Fitch.) 

Just  about  the  time  that  the  third  bunch  of  grapes,  on 
a  given  shoot,  is  developing,  many  of  the  leaves,  and  es- 
pecially those  at  the  extremity  of  the  shoot,  are  found 
fastened  together  more  or  less  closely,  but  generally  so  as 
to  form  a  hollow  ball.  These  leaves  are  fastened  by  a 
fine  white  silk,  and  upon  opening  the  mass  and  separat- 
ing the  leaves,  one  or  two  caterpillars  will  generally  be 
found  in  the  retreat.  We  say  one  or  two,  because  the 
retreat  made  by  the  smallest  of  the  Blue-caterpillars 
of  the  Vine,  namely,  the  larva  of  the  Pearl  Wood 
Nymph,  so  closely  resembles  that  of  the  Grape-vine 
Plume  under  consideration,  that  until  the  leaves  are 
separated  it  is  almost  impossible  to  tell  which  larva 
will  be  found.  Both  occur  at  the  same  time  of  year. 
In  an  ordinary  season  they  do  not  draw  together  the  tips 
of  the  shoots  until  after  the  third  bunch  of  grapes  is 
formed,  and  in  devouring  the  terminal  bud  and  leaves, 
they  do  little  more  than  assist  the  vineyardist  in  the 
pruning  which  he  would  soon  have  to  give.  They  act, 
indeed,  as  Nature's  pruning-knives.  But  the  severe 
frost  which  generally  kills  the  first  buds,  so  retards  the 


236 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


growth  of  the  vines  that  the  worms  come  out  in  full  force 
before  the  third  bunch  has  fully  formed,  and  this  bunch 
is  consequently  included  in  the  fold  made  by  these 
worms,  and  destroyed. 

The  larva  of  the  Grape-vine  Plume  invariably  hatches 
very  soon  after  the  leaves  begin  to  expand;  and  though  it 
is  very  generally  called  the  Leaf-folder,  it  must  not  be 

confounded   with    the    true 
Leaf -folder,  described  on  page 
231,  and  whicb  does  its  prin- 
cipal damage   later    in    the 
season.     At  first   the  larva 
of  our  Plume  is  smooth  and 
almost  destitute  of  hairs,  but 
after  each   moult  the  hairs 
become  more  perceptible,  and 
when  full  grown  the  larva 
appears  as  at  figure  144,  a, 
the  hairs  arising  from  a  trans- 
verse row  of  warts,  each  joint 
hEJf      jjjjjjL  having  four  above  and  six 
W^f       Afii     below   the   breathing    pores 
%S     ejB  »  (see  fig.  144,  e).    After  feed- 
11(11       ^fpjp^    ing  for  about  three  weeks  our 
little  worm  fastens  itself  se- 
Fig.  144.— GRAPE-VINE  PLUME  (Rer-  curely  by  the  hind  le^s  to  the 

phorus pcriscdidactylus,  Fitch.)  -,        •  i         £  ,      <. 

a,  Larva;  fc,  pupa?  c,  Horn;  d,  Moth;  underside   oi    some  leaf   or 

other    object,    and,    casting 

its  hairy  skin,  transforms  to  the  pupa  state.  The  pupa 
(fig.  144,  #),  with  the  lower  part  of  the  three  or  four 
terminal  joints  attached  to  a  little  silk  previously  spun  „ 
by  the  worm,  hangs  at  a  slant  of  about  forty  degrees. 
It  is  of  peculiar  and  characteristic  form,  being  ridged 
and  angular,  with  numerous  projections,  and  having 
remnants  of  the  larval  warts;  it  is  obliquely  truncated 
at  the  head,  but  is  chiefly  distinguished  by  two  com- 


OF   THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  237 

pressed  sharp-pointed  horns,  one  of  which  is  enlarged 
at  figure  144,  c,  projecting  from  the  middle  of  the 
back:  it  measures,  on  an  average,  rather  more  than  one- 
third  of  an  inch,  and  varies  in  color  from  light  green  with 
darker  green  shadings,  to  pale  straw-color  with  light- 
brown  shadings. 

The  moth  (fig.  144,  d),  escapes  from  this  pupa  in  about 
one  week,  and,  like  all  the  species  belonging  to  the  genus, 
it  has  a  very  active  and  impetuous  flight,  and  rests  with 
the  wings  closed  and  stretched  at  right  angles  from  the 
body,  so  as  to  recall  the  letter  T.  It  is  of  a  tawny  yellow 
color,  the  front  wings  marked  with  white  and  dark 
brown  as  in  the  figure,  the  hind  wings  appearing  like 
burnished  copper,  and  the  legs  being  alternately  banded 
with  white  and  tawny  yellow. 

All  the  moths  of  the  family  (AlucitidcB)  to  which  it 
belongs  have  the  wings  split  up  into  narrow  feather-like 
lobes,  and  for  this  reason  they  have  very  appropriately 
been  called  Plumes  in  popular  language.  In  the  genus 
Pterophorus  the  front  wings  are  divided  into  two,  and 
the  hind  wings  into  three  lobes.  In  this  country,  a  some- 
what larger  species  (P.  carduidactylus,  Eiley)  occurs  on 
the  Thistle,  and  though  bearing  a  close  resemblance  to 
the  Grape-vine  Plume  in  color  and  markings,  yet  differs 
very  remarkably  in  the  larva  and  pupa  states. 

From  analogy  we  infer  that  there  are  two  broods  of 
these  worms  each  year,  and  that  the  last  brood  passes 
the  winter  in  the  moth  state.  We  have,  however,  never 
noticed  any  second  appearance  of  them,  and  whether  this 
is  from  the  fact  that  the  vines  are  covered  with  a  denser 
foliage  in  the  summer  than  in  the  spring,  or  whether 
there  is  really  but  one  brood,  are  points  in  the  history  of 
our  little  Plume  which  yet  have  to  be  settled  by  further 
observation. 

On  account  of  its  spinning  habit  this  insect  is  easily 
kept  in  check  by  hand  picking. 


238  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

THE  GRAPE-BERRY  MOTH. 
(Penthina  vitivorana,  Packard.) 

The  Grape-berry  Moth  is  an  illustration  of  the  well- 
known  fact  that  an  insect  may  suddenly  appear  in  many 
different  parts  of  the  country  where  it  had  not  been 
known  before,  for  previous  to  1878  no  account  of  it  had 
been  published,  and  it  was  entirely  unknown  to  science. 
It  had  however  been  noticed  in  several  localities  in  Ohio, 
Illinois,  and  Missouri,  for  three  or  four  years,  but  never 
so  abundant  as  in  1878.  In  that  year  it  was  common  in 
Missouri,  in  Illinois,  and  ruined  about  fifty  per  cent,  of 
the  grapes  around  Cleveland,  Ohio.  It  has  also  appeared 
in  Pennsylvania,  and  may  appear  at  any  time  where 
grapes  are  grown. 

Its  natural  history  may  be  given  as  follows:  About  the 
1st  of  July,  the  grapes  that  are  attacked  by  the  worms 
begin  to  show  a  discolored  spot  at  the  point  where  the 
worm  entered,  (fig.  145,  c).  Upon  opening  such  a  grape, 
the  inmate,  which  is  at  this  time  very  small  and  white, 
with  a  cinnamon-colored  head,  will  be  found  at  the  end 
of  a  winding  channel.  It  continues  to  feed  on  the  pulp 
of  the  fruit,  and  upon  reaching  the  seeds,  generally  eats 
out  their  interior.  As  it  matures  it  becomes  darker,  be- 
ing either  of  an  olive-green  or  dark-brown  color,  with  a 
honey-yellow  head,  and  if  one  grape  is  not  sufficient,  it 
fastens  the  already  ruined  grape  to  an  adjoining  one,  by 
means  of  silken  threads,  and  proceeds  to  burrow  in  it  as 
it  did  in  the  first.  When  full  grown  ifc  presents  the  ap- 
pearance of  figure  145,  Z>,  and  is  exceedingly  active.  As 
soon  as  the  grape  is  touched  the  worm  will  wriggle  out 
of  it,  and  rapidly  let  itself  to  the  ground,  by  means  of 
its  ever-ready  silken  thread,  unless  care  be  taken  to  pre- 
vent its  so  doing.  The  cocoon  is  often  formed  on  the 


OF   THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  239 

leaves  of  the  vine,  in  a  manner  essentially  characteristic. 
After  covering  a  given  spot  with  silk,  the  worm  cuts  out 
a  clean  oval  flap,  leaving  it  hinged  on  one  side,  and, 
rolling  this  flap  over,  fastens  it  to  the  leaf,  and  thus 
forms  for  itself  a  cozy  little  house.  One  of  these  cocoons 
is  represented  at  figure  146,  b,  and  though  the  cut  is  some- 
times less  regular  than  shown  in  the  figure,  it  is  undoubt- 
edly the  normal  habit  of  the  insect  to  make  just  such  a 
cocoon  as  represented.  Sometimes,  however,  it  cuts  two 
crescent-shaped  slits,  and,  rolling  up  the  two  pieces,  fast- 
ens them  up  in  the  middle  as  shown  at  figure  147.  And 
frequently  it  rolls  over  a  piece  of  the  edge  of  the  leaf,  in 
the  manner  commonly  adopted  by  leaf -rolling  larvae, 


Fig.  145. — GRAPE  BERRY-MOTH  (Pcnthiria  vitivorana,  Packard.) 
a.  Moth  ;  ft,  Larva ;  c,  Punctured  Berry ;  d,  Shrunken  Berry. 

while  we  have  had  them  spin  up  in  a  silk  handkerchief, 
where  they  made  no  cut  at  all. 

In  two  days  after  completing  the  cocoon,  the  worm 
changes  to  a  chrysalis.  In  this  state  (fig.  146,  a),  it  meas- 
ures about  one-fifth  of  an  inch,  and  is  quite  variable  in 
color,  being  generally  of  a  honey-yellow,  with  a  green 
shade  on  the  abdomen.  In  about  ten  days  after  this 
last  change  takes  place,  the  chrysalis  works  itself  almost 
entirely  out  of  the  cocoon,  and  the  little  moth  repre- 
sented at  figure  145,  a,  makes  its  escape. 


240  IHJURIOTJS  INSECTS. 

The  first  moths  appear  in  Southern  Illinois  and  Central 
Missouri  about  the  1st  of  August,  and  as  the  worms  are 
found  in  the  grapes  during  the  months  of  August  and 
September,  or  even  later,  and  as  Mr.  Read  has  kept  the 
cocoons  through  the  greater  part  of  the  winter,  there  is 
every  reason  to  believe  that  a  second 
brood  of  worms  is  generated  from 
these  moths,  and  that  the  second 
brood  of  worms,  as  is  the  case  of  the 
Codling-moth  of  the  apple,  passes 
the  winter  in  the  cocoon,  and  pro- 
Fig.  146.  duces  the  moth  the  following  spring, 

GRAPE  BERKY-MOTH.  j         time      fa      1&y      ^     e  Qn     the 

a.  Pupa ;  ft,  Chrysalis.  J 

grapes  while  they  are  forming. 
This  worm  is  found  in  greatest  numbers  on  such  grapes 
as  the  Herbemont,  or  those  varieties  which  have  tender 
skins,  and  close,  compact  bunches;  though  it  has  also 
been  known  to  occur  on  almost  every  variety  grown.  As 
already  stated,  there  can  be  little  doubt  but  that  the  greater 
part  of  the  second  brood  of  worms  passes  the  winter  in 
the  cocoon  on  the  fallen  leaves;  and,  in  such  an  event, 
many  of  them  may  be  destroyed  by  raking  up  and  burn- 
ing the  leaves  at  any  time  during  the  winter.  The  ber- 
ries attacked  by  the  worm  may  easily 
be  detected,  providing  there  is  no 
"  grape  rot "  in  the  vineyard,  either  by 
a  discolored  spot  as  shown  at  figure  145, 
c.  or  by  the  entire  discoloration  and  „ 

.     .    /  .  ,     Fig.  147.— CHYSALIS. 

shrinking  of  the  berry,  as  is  shown  at 
figure  145,  d.     When   the  vineyard  is  attacked  by  the 
"rot,"  the  wormy  berries  are  not  so  easily  distinguished?- 
as  they  bear  a  close  resemblance  to  the  rotting  ones.     All 
fallen  berries  should  be  picked  up  and  destroyed. 


OF  THE  FARM  AND   GARDEN. 


241 


THE  GRAPE-VINE  FLEA-BEETLE. 

(Graptodera  [formerly  Haltica]  chalybea,  Illig.) 

Of  the  numerous  insect  enemies  with  which  our  grape- 
growers  have  to  deal,  this  occupies  a  prominent  place. 

The  beetles  which  have  hibernated  begin  their  destruc- 
tive work  in  the  spring  as  soon  as  the  buds  commence  to 
swell,  and  it  is  at  this  early  period  that  the  greatest  dam- 


Fig.  148.— GRAPE-VINE  FLEA-BEETLE  ( Graptodera  chalybea,  Illig.) 
a,  Young  Larvae  on  Leaf ;  6,  Larva,  enlarged :  c,  Chrysalis ;  d,  Beetle. 

age  is  done  by  the  beetles  boring  into  and  feeding  on  said 
buds.  Later  in  the  season  the  beetles  feed  upon  the 
leaves,  and  upon  these,  in  the  month  of  May,  the  female 
lays  her  small  orange-colored  eggs  in  clusters.  These 
soon  hatch,  and  the  young  dark-colored  larvae  riddle  the 
leaf  as  shown  in  figure  148,  #,  or  when  very  numerous 
completely  devouring  it,  leaving  only  the  largest  ribs. 
11 


242  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

In  about  a  month  the  full-grown  larvae  (fig.  348,  I),  de- 
scend into  the  ground,  where  each  forms  a  small  earthen 
cell  (fig.  148,  c),  and  changes  to  a  dull-yellowish  pupa  of 
the  shape  normally  assumed  in  this  family.  The  perfect 
beetle  issues  about  three  weeks  later,  from  the  middle  of 
June  to  the  middle  of  July,  and  again  begins  to  eat  the 
leaves,  but  the  damage  done  is  trifling  compared  with 
that  done  in  early  spring.  So  far  as  we  have  observed 
there  is  but  one  annual  generation,  but  it  is  probable 
that  in  the  more  Southern  States  there  will  be  two.  As 
soon  as  cold  weather  approaches  the  beetles  retire  under 
fallen  leaves  in  the  ground,  at  the  base  of  trees,  under 
loose  bark,  in  houses,  in  short,  in  any  place  which  offers 
shelter  from  the  cold. 

In  considering  the  best  means  of  preventing  the  injuries 
of  this  insect,  it  must  be  borne  in  mind,  that,  according 
to  our  observations,  the  female  beetle  deposits  her  eggs 
by  preference  on  the  leaves  of  the  wild  grape  vines,  as 
the  larvae  are  rarely  met  with  in  cultivated  vineyards. 
It  is  against  the  perfect  beetle,  therfore,  that  we  must 
direct  our  efforts  at  destruction,  and  while  it  is  undoubt- 
edly desirable  to  keep  the  vineyard  clear  of  rubbish  in 
winter  time,  by  burning  wherever  fire  can  be  used  safely, 
this  means  of  destruction  loses  much  of  its  importance 
by  the  fact  that  the  beetles  hibernate  in  the  woods  and 
in  any  number  of  other  places  where  they  cannot  be  de- 
stroyed by  fire.  Dry  lime  and  hellebore,  which  may  be 
used  to  advantage  against  the  larvae,  have  proved  useless 
against  the  beetle,  while  lye  and  soapsuds  cannot  be  used 
strong  enough  to  kill  it  without  injurious  effects  upon  the 
plant.  Tin  pans  or  pails  with  some  liquid  at  the  bottom 
have  been  used  to  advantage  for  collecting  the  early  bee- 
tles, which  could  be  knocked  into  them,  and  we  have  re- 
peatedly advised  for  this  and  other  insects  that  infest  the 
grape-vine,  which  fall  to  the  ground  upon  disturbance,  the 
use  of  sheets  along  the  trellis  to  catch  them.  Unless  re- 


OF   THE   FARM    ATO   GARDEN.  243 


peatedly  shaken  from  such  sheets  into  vessels  containing 
liquid,  the  beetles  will  of  course  soon  escape. 

The  wonderful  efficacy  of  kerosene  in  destroying  insect 
life  has  long  been  known.  It  was  used  with  excellent  ef- 
fect in  shallow  tin  pans,  or  on  stretched  sheets  of  cloth, 
for  the  destructive  locust  of  the  West. 

Mr.  I.  0.  Howard,  Assistant  Entomologist  to  the  De- 
partment of  Agriculture,  employed  it  successfully  on 
sheets  against  the  Grape-vine  Flea-beetle,  finding  it  so 
satisfactory  that  he  did  not  hesitate  to  recommend  it  in 
the  following  terms  : 

"Take  two  pieces  of  common  cotton  sheeting,  each 
being  two  yards  long  and  half  as  wide;  fasten  sticks  across 
the  ends  of  each  piece  to  keep  the  cloth  open,  and  then 
drench  with  kerosene.  Give  the  sheets  thus  prepared  to 
two  persons,  each  having  hold  of  the  rods  at  the  opposite 
ends  of  the  sheets.  Then  let  these  persons  pass  one  sheet 
on  either  side  of  the  vine,  being  careful  to  unite  the  cloth 
around  the  base  of  the  vine;  then  let  a  third  person  give 
the  stake  to  which  the  vine  is  attached  a  sharp  blow  with 
a  heavy  stick.  Such  a  blow  will  in  nearly  every  case  jar 
the  beetles  into  the  sheets,  where  the  kerosene  kills  them 
almost  instantly. 

"  This  process,  after  a  little  experience,  can  be  per- 
formed almost  as  rapidly  as  the  persons  employed  can 
walk  from  one  vine  to  another.  The  expense  necessary 
is  very  trifling,  and  boys  can  do  the  work  quite  as  well 
as  men.  Warm  bright  afternoons  are  the  proper  times 
for  this  work  to  be  done,  and  it  should  be  performed 
faithfully  every  sunny  day  until  the  vines  are  out  of  dan- 
ger." 

Until  something  is  discovered,  which,  blown  or 
syringed  on  the  buds,  will  keep  off  the  beetles,  this 
method  of  Mr.  Howard's  of  dealing  with  the  insect,  will 
remain  the  best  yet  known. 


244  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

THE   SPOTTED   PELIDNOTA. 
(Pelidnota punctata,  Linnaeus.) 

This  is  the  largest  and  most  conspicuous  beetle  that 
attacks  the  foliage  of  the  Grape-vine,  and  in  the  beetle 
state  it  seems  to  subsist  entirely  on  the  leaves  of  this 
plant,  and  of  the  closely  allied  Virginia  Creeper.  Though 
some  years  it  becomes  so  abundant  as  to  badly  riddle  the 
foliage  of  our  vineyards,  yet  such  instances  are  excep- 
tional; and  it  usually  occurs  in  such  small  numbers,  and 


Fig.  149. — THE  SPOTTED  PELIDNOTA  (Pdidnota  pwictata,  Linn.) 
a,  Grub ;  b,  Pupa ;  c,  Beetle  ;  d,  Markings. 

is  so  large  and  clumsy,  that  it  can  not  be  considered  a 
very  redoubtable  enemy. 

Its  larva  has,  for  a  number  of  years,  been  known  to 
feed  on  the  decaying  roots  of  different  trees.  It  is  a 
large  clumsy  grub  (fig.  149,  a),  bearing  a  close  resemblance 
to  the  comman  White  Grub  of  our  meadows,  and  differs 
from  that  species  principally  in  being  less  wrinkled,  and 
in  having  the  chitinous  covering  (or  skin,  so-called)  more 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  245 

polished  and  of  a  purer  white  color,  and  in  the  distinct 
heart-shaped  swelling  above  the  vent  (fig.  149,  d).  To- 
wards the  latter  part  of  June  we  have  found  this  larva 
in  abundance,  in  company  with  the  pupa  (fig.  149,  b),  in 
rotten  stumps  and  roots  of  the  Pear.  In  preparing  for 
the  pupa  state,  the  larva  forms  a  rather  unsubstantial 
cocoon  of  its  own  excrement,  mixed  with  the  surround- 
ing wood.  The  pupa  state  lasts  but  from  eight  to  ten 
days,  and  the  beetle  (fig.  149,  c),  is  found  on  our  vines 
during  the  months  of  July,  August,  and  September.  It 
is  not  yet  known  how  long  a  time  is  required  for  the  de- 
velopment of  the  larva,  but  from  analogy  we  may  infer 
that  the  insect  lives  in  that  state  upwards  of  three  years. 
This  beetle  was  named  about  a  century  ago  by  Linnseus, 
who  met  with  a  specimen  in  the  magnificent  collection 
of  shells  and  insects  belonging  to  Queen  Louise  Ulrica  of 
Sweden.  It  occurs  throughout  the  States  and  Upper 
Canada,  and  is  even  met  with  in  the  West  Indies.  It 
flies  and  feeds  by  day.  The  wing-covers  are  of  a  slightly 
metallic  clay-yellow  color,  with  three  distinct  black  spots 
on  each,  and  the  wings  themselves  are  dark-brown  inclin- 
ing to  black;  the  thorax  is  usually  a  little  darker  than 
the  wing-covers,  with  one  spot  each  side;  the  abdomen 
beneath,  and  legs,  are  of  a  bronzed-green.  It  is  easily 
kept  in  check  by  hand-picking. 

THE    ROSE-BUG,    OR    ROSE-CHAFER. 
(Macrodactylus  subspinosus,  Fabr.) 

This  insect  does  its  injurious  work  in  the  beetle  state. 
The  larva  develops  under  ground.  The  following  ac- 
count is  condensed  from  the  standard  work  of  Harris. 
In  arranging  insects  according  to  the  plants  to  which 
they  are  injurious,  it  is  difficult  to  decide  where  to  place 
this;  if  we  take  into  account  the  pecuniary  loss  it  causes. 


246  IJSTJUEIOUS   INSECTS 

perhaps  the  grape-grower  is  the  greatest  sufferer,  and  it 
is  accordingly  placed  among  the  insects  especially  injuri- 
ous to  the  Grape: 

"The  prevalence  of  this  insect  on  the  "Rose,  and  its 
annual  appearance  coinciding  with  the  blossoming  of 
that  flower,  have  gained  for  it  the  popular  name  by  which 
it  is  here  known.  For  some  time  after  they  were  first 
noticed,  Rose-bugs  appeared  to  be  confined  to  their  fa- 
vorite, the  blossoms  of  the  Rose;  but  within  forty  years 
they  have  greatly  increased  in  number,  have  attack- 
ed at  random  various  kinds  of  plants  in  swarms,  and 
have  become  notorious  for  their  extensive  and  deplorable 
ravages.  The  Grape-vine,  in  particular,  the  Cherry, 
Plum,  and  Apple  trees,  have  annually  suffered  by  their 
depredations;  many  other  fruit  trees  and  shrubs,  garden 
vegetables  and  corn,  and  even  the  trees  of  the  forest, 
and  grass  of  the  fields,  have  been  laid  under  contribu- 
tion by  these  indiscriminate  feeders,  by  whom  leaves, 
flowers,  and  fruits,  are  alike  consumed.  The  unexpected 
arrival  of  these  insects  in  swarms  at  the  first  coming, 
and  their  sudden  disappearance  at  the  close  of  their 
career,  are  remarkable  facts  in  their  history.  They  come 
forth  from  the  ground  during  the  second  week  in  June, 
or  about  the  time  of  the  blossoming  of  the  Damask 
Rose,  and  remain  from  thirty  to  forty  days.  At  the  end 
of  this  period  the  males  perish,  while  the  females  enter 
the  earth,  lay  their  eggs,  return  to  the  surface,  and, 
after  lingering  a  few  days,  die  also. 

"The  eggs  laid  by  each  female  are  about  thirty  in 
number,  and  are  deposited  from  one  to  four  inches  be- 
neath the  surface  of  the  soil;  they  are  nearly  globular, 
whitish,  and  are  one-thirtieth  of  an  inch  in  diameter, 
and  are  hatched  twenty  days  after  they  are  laid.  The 
young  larvae  begin  to  feed  on  such  tender  roots  as  are 
within  their  reach.  They  attain  their  full  size  in  au- 
tumn, being  then  nearly  three-quarters  of  an  inch  long, 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  247 

and  about  an  eighth  of  an  inch  in  diameter.  In  October 
they  descend  below  the  reach  of  frost,  and  pass  the  win- 
ter in  a  torpid  state.  In  the  spring  they  approach  to- 
ward the  surface,  and  each  one  forms  for  itself  a  little 
cell,  of  an  oval  shape.  Within  this  cell  the  grub  is  trans- 
formed to  a  pupa  during  the  month  of  May.  During 
the  month  of  June,  the  included  beetle  bursts  open  its 
earthen  cell,  and  digs  its  way  to  the  surface 
of  the  ground.  Thus  the  various  changes,  from 
the  egg  to  the  full  development  of  the  perfected 
beetle,  are  completed  within  the  space  of  one 
year." 

The  beetle  is  given  of  its  real  size,  about 
seven-twentieths  of  an  inch  in  length,  in  figure  EOSE-BUG. 
150;    its  body  is  entirely  covered  with  a  very 
short  and  close  ashen-yellow  down;  its  legs  are  of  a  pale- 
red  color,  while  the  joints  of  the  very  long  feet  are 
tipped  with  black. 

EEMEDIES. — Such  being  the  metamorphoses  and  habits 
of  the  Kose-bugs,  it  is  evident  we  cannot  attack  them  in 
the  egg,  the  grub,  or  the  pupa  state.  When  they  have 
issued  from  their  subterranean  retreats,  and  have  con- 
gregated upon  our  vines,  trees,  and  other  vegetable  pro- 
ductions, in  the  complete  enjoyment  of  their  propensi- 
ties, we  must  unite  our  efforts  to  seize  and  crush  the 
invaders.  They  must  indeed  be  crushed,  scalded,  or 
burned,  to  deprive  them  of  life,  for  they  are  not  affected 
by  any  of  the  applications  usually  found  destructive  to 
other  insects.  Experience  has  proved  the  utility  of 
gathering  them  by  hand,  or  of  shaking  them  or  brush- 
ing them  from  the  plants  into  tin  vessels  containing  a 
little  water.  They  should  be  collected  daily,  especially 
in  early  morning,  when  they  are  torpid,  and  burned  or 
scalded.  If  a  film  of  kerosene  is  floated  upon  the  water 
in  the  vessels  in  which  they  are  caught,  it  will  help  to 
prevent  their  escape. 


248  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

THE    GEAPE    PHYLLOXERA. 
(Phylloxera  vastatrix,  Planchon.) 

This  minute  insect,  which  has  caused  such  devasta- 
tions in  the  vineyards  of  Europe,  is  a  native  of  this 
country,  where  its  destructive  work  was  known  long  be- 
fore the  cause  of  it  was  discovered.  The  life  history 
of  the  Phylloxera  has  been  worked  out  by  Prof. 
Riley  in  his  Missouri  Keports,  especially  in  the  Sixth, 
from  which  the  following  account  is  condensed. 

The  insect  presents  itself  under  several  different  forms, 
all  of  which  belong  to  two  types.  One  of  these  is  the 
Leaf -gall  type  (gallicola,  K.),  and  the  other  is  found 
upon  the  roots  of  the  vine  (radicicola,  K.). 

FIRST,  AS  TO  THE  LEAF-GALL  TYPE   (Gallicola.) — 
The  gall  or  excrescence  produced  by   this   is  a  fleshy 
swelling  of   the  under  side  of   the 
leaf,    more   or    less    wrinkled    and 
hairy,  with  a  corresponding  depres- 
sion of  the  upper  side,  the  margin 
of     the     cup     being     fuzzy,     and 
drawn   together   so   as   to  form   a 
"^ fiftefSftSfi"*1*  fringed  mouth.     It  is  usually  cup- 
shaped,    but    some     times    greatly 
elongated  or  purse -shaped   (figure   151,   «,    #). 

Soon  after  the  first  vine-leaves  that  put  out  in  the 
spring  have  fully  expanded,  a  few  scattering  galls  may  be 
found,  mostly  on  the  lower  leaves,  nearest  the  ground. 
These  vernal  galls  are  usually  large  (of  the  size  of  an 
ordinary  pea,)  and  the  normal  green  is  often  blushed 
with  rose  where  exposed  to  the  light  of  the  sun.  On 
carefully  opening  one  of  them  (fig.  152,  d),  we  shall  find 
the  mother-louse  diligently  at  work  surrounding  herself 
with  pale-yellow  eggs  of  an  elongate  oval  form,  scarcely 
.01-inch  long,  and  not  quite  half  as  thick  (fig.  152, 


OF   THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


249 


c).  She  is  about  .04-inch  long,  generally  spherical 
in  shape,  of  a  dull-orange  color,  and  looks  not  unlike 
an  immature  seed  of  the  common  purslane.  At  times,, 
by  the  elongation  of  the  abdomen,  she  is  more  or 
less  perfectly  pear-shaped.  Her  members  are  all  dusky, 
and  so  short,  compared  to  her  swollen  body,  that  she  ap- 
pears very  clumsy,  and  undoubtedly  would  be  outside  of 
her  gall,  which  she  never  has  occasion  to  quit,  and  which 


Fig.  152. — GRAPE  PHYLLOXERA— LEAF-GALL   TYPE. 

a,  &,  Newly-hatched  Larva,  ventral  and  dorsal  view ;  c.  Egg  ;  cl,  Section  of  Gall ,  e, 

Swelling  of  Tendril ;  f,  g.  h.  Mother  Gall-louse—lateral,  dorsal  and  ventral 

views;  i,  her  Antenna;  j,  her  two-jointed  Tarsus.    Natural  sizes 

indicated  at  sides  by  email  circles. 

serves  her  alike  as  dwelling  house  and  coffin.  More  care- 
fully examined,  her  skin  is  seen  to  be  shagreened  or  mi- 
nutely granulated  and  furnished  with  rows  of  minute 
hairs.  The  eggs  begin  to  hatch,  when  six  or  eight  days 
old,  into  active  little  oval,  six-footed  beings,  which  differ 
from  their  mother  in  their  brighter  yellow  color  and  more 
perfect  legs  and  antennae,  the  tarsi  being  furnished  with 
long,  pliant  hairs,  terminating  in  a  more  or  less  distinct 
globule.  In  hatching,  the  egg  splits  longitudinally  from 
the  anterior  end,  and  the  young  louse,  whose  pale-yellow 


250  INJUKIOUS   INSECTS 

is  in  strong  contrast  with  the  more  dusky  color  of  the 
egg-shell,  escapes  in  the  course  of  two  minutes.  Issuing 
from  the  mouth  of  the  gall,  these  yoang  lice  scatter  over 
the  vine,  most  of  them  finding  their  way  to  the  tender 
terminal  leaves,  where  they  settle  in  the  downy  bed  which 
these  leaves  affords,  and  commence  pumping  up  and  ap- 
propriating the  sap.  The  tongue-sheath .  is  blunt  and 
heavy,  but  the  tongue  proper — consisting  of  three  brown, 
elastic,  and  wiry  filaments,  which,  united,  make  so  fine 
a  thread  as  scarcely  to  be  visible  with  the  strongest  mi- 
croscope— is  sharp,  and  easily  run  into  the  leaf.  Its 
puncture  causes  a  curious  change  in  the  tissues  of  the 
leaf,  the  growth  being  so  stimulated  that  the  under  side 
bulges  and  thickens,  while  the  down  on  the  upper  side 
increases  in  a  circle  around  the  louse,  and  finally  hides 
and  covers  it  as  it  recedes  more  and  more  within  the 
deepening  cavity.  Sometimes  the  lice  are  so  crowded 
that  two  occupy  the  same  gall.  If,  from  the  premature 
death  of  the  louse,  or  other  cause,  the  gall  becomes  abor- 
tive before  being  completed,  then  the  circle  of  thickened 
down  or  fuzz  enlarges  with  the  expansion  of  the  leaf,  and 
remains  (fig.  151,  c),  to  tell  the  tale  of  the  futile  effort. 
Otherwise,  in  a  few  days  the  gall  is  formed,  and  the 
in  held  louse,  which,  while  eating  its  way  into  house  and 
home,  was  also  growing  apace,  begins  'a  parthenogenetic 
maternity  by  the  deposition  of  fertile  eggs,  as  her  imme- 
diate parent  had  done  before.  She  increases  in  bulk 
with  pregnancy,  and  one  egg  follows  another  in  quick 
succession,  until  the  gall  is  crowded.  The  mother  dies 
and  shrivels,  and  the  young,  as  they  hatch,  issue  and 
found  new  galls.  This  process  continues  during  the 
summer  until  the  fifth  or  sixth  generation.  Every  egg 
brings  forth  a  fertile  female,  which  soon  becomes  wonder- 
fully prolific.  The  number  of  eggs  found  in  a  single  gall 
averages  about  two  hundred;  yet  it  will  sometimes  reach 
as  many  as  five  hundred.  Even  supposing  there  are  but 


OF   THE   FAEM    AHD    GARDEN. 


251 


five  generations  during  the  year,  and  taking  the  lowest 
of  the  above  figures,,  the  immense  prolificacy  of  the  spe- 
cies becomes  manifest.  As  summer  advances,  they  fre- 
quently become  prodigiously  multiplied,  completely  cov- 
ering the  leaves  with  their  galls,  when  they  appear  as 
in  figure  153.  The  lice  also  settle  on  the  tendrils, 
leaf -stalks,  and  tender  branches,  where  they  also  form 
knots  and  rounded  excrescences  (figure  152,  e),  much 
resembling  those  made  on  the  roots.  In  such  a  case,  the 
vine  loses  its  leaves  prematurely.  Usually,  however,  the 


Fig.  153.— LEAF  OF  THE  GKAPE-VINE  WITH  PHYLLOXERA  GALL. 

natural  enemies  of  the  louse  seriously  reduce  its  numbers 
by  the  time  the  vine  ceases  its  growth  in  the  fall,  and 
the  few  remaining  lice,  finding  no  more  succulent  and 
suitable  leaves,  seek  the  roots.  Thus,  by  the  end  of 
September,  the  galls  are  mostly  deserted,  and  those  which 
are  left  are  almost  always  infested  with  mildew,  and 
eventually  turn  brown  and  decay.  On  the  roots,  the 
young  lice  attach  themselves  singly  or  in  little  groups, 
and  thus  hibernate.  The  male  gall-louse  has  never  been 


252 


INJURIOUS   INSECTS 


seen,  and  there  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  he  has  no 
existence.  Nor  does  the  female  ever  acquire  wings.  It 
is  but  a  transient  summer  state,  not  at  all  essential  to 
the  perpetuation  of  the  species,  and  does,  compared  with 
the  other  type,  but  trilling  damage. 

As  already  indicated,  the  autumnal  individuals  of  gal- 
licola  descend  to  the  roots,  and  there  hibernate.  There 
is  every  reason  to  believe  also  that,  throughout  the  sum- 


Fig.  154. — GRAPE  PHYLLOXERA,  ROOT-INHABITING  TYPE. 

a,  Roots  of  Clinton  vine,  showing  relation  of  Swellings  to  Leaf-galls,  and  power  of 

resisting  decomposition  ;  fc,  Larva  as  it  appears  when  hibernating;  c,  <J, 

Antenna  and  Leg  of  same  ;  e,  /,  q,  Forms  of  more  mature  Lice ; 

h,  Granulations  of  Skin ;  i,  Tubercle. 


mer,  some  of  the  young  lice  hatched  in  the  galls  are 
passing  on  to  the  roots;  as,  considering  their  size,  they 
are  great  travellers,  and  show  a  strong  disposition  to 
drop,  their  natural  lightness  enabling  them  thus  to 
reach  the  earth  with  ease  and  safety.  At  all  events,  we 
know  from  experiment,  that  the  young  gallicola,  if  con- 
fined to  vines  on  which  they  do  not  normally  form  galls, 
will,  in  the  middle  of  summer,  make  themselves  perfectly 
at  home  on  the  roots. 


OF  THE  FABM  AND  GAKDEN.          253 

THE  ROOT-INHABITING  TYPE  (Radicicola). — We  have 
seen  that,  in  all  probability,  gallicola  exists  only  in  the 
wingless,  shagroened,  non-tubercled,  fecund  female 
form.  Radicicola,  however,  presents  itself  in  two  prin- 
cipal forms.  The  newly  hatched  larvae  of  this  type  are 
undistinguishable,  in  all  essential  characters,  from  those 
hatched  in  the  galls;  but  in  due  time  they  shed  the 
smooth  larval  skin,  and  acquire  raised  warts  or  tubercles 
which  at  once  distinguish  them  from  gallicola.  In  the 
development  from  this  point  the  two  forms  are  separable 
with  sufficient  ease:  one  (A)  of  a  more  dingy  greenish- 
yellow,  with  more  swollen  fore-body,  and  more  tapering 
abdomen;  the  other  (u)  of  a  brighter  yellow,  with  the 
lateral  outline  more  perfectly  oval,  and  with  the  abdomen 
more  truncated  at  tip. 

The  first  or  mother  form  (fig.  154,  /,  g),  is  the  ana- 
logue of  gallicola ,  as  it  never  acquires  wings,  and  is>  oc- 
cupied, from  adolescence  till  death,  with  the  laying  of 
eggs,  which  are  less  numerous  and  somewhat  larger  than 
those  found  in  the  galls.  We  have  counted  in  the  spring 
as  many  as  two  hundred  and  sixty-five  eggs  in  a  cluster, 
and  all  evidently  from  one  mother,  who  was  yet  very 
plump,  and  still  occupied  in  laying.  As  a  rule,  however, 
they  are  less  numerous.  With  pregnancy  this  form  be- 
comes quite  tumid  and  more  or  less  pyriform,  and  is  con- 
tent to  remain  with  scarcely  any  motion  in  the  more 
secluded  parts  of  the  roots,  such  as  creases,  sutures,  and 
depressions,  which  the  knots  afford.  The  skin  is  dis- 
tinctly shagreened  (fig.  154,  h,)  as  in  gallicola.  The 
warts,  though  usually  quite  visible  with  a  good  lens,  are 
at  other  times  more  or  less  obsolete,  especially  on  the  ab- 
domen. 

The  second  or  more  oval  form  (fig.  154,  e),  is  destined 
to  become  winged.  Its  tubercles,  when  once  acquired, 
are  always  conspicuous;  it  is  more  active  than  the  other, 
and  its  eyes  increase  rather  than  diminish  in  complexity 


254 


INJURIOUS  INSECTS 


with  age.  From  the  time  it  is  one-third  grown,  the 
little  dusky  wing-pads  may  be  discovered,  though  less 
conspicuous  than  in  the  pupa  state,  which  is  soon  after 


Fig.  155. — GRAPE  PHYLLOXERA,   ROOT-INHABITING   TYPE. 

a,  Shows  a  healthy  root ;  6,  one  on  which  the  lice  are  working,  representing  the 
knots  and  swellings  caused  by  their  punctures ;  c,  a  Boot  that  has  been  de- 
serted by  them,  and  where  the  rootlets  have  commenced  to  decay ; 
d,  d,  d,  show  how  the  lice  are  found  on  the  larger  roots  ;  f,  fe- 
male pupa,  dorsal  view ;  /,  same,  ventral  view  ;  fir,  winged 
female,  dorsal  view;  h,  same,  ventral  view. 

assumed.  The  pupae  (fig.  155,  e,  /),  are  still  more  active, 
and,  after  feeding  a  short  time,  they  make  their  way  to 
the  light  of  day,  crawl  over  the  ground  and  over  the 
vines,  and  finally  shed  their  last  skin  and  assume  the 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN,  255 

winged  state,  which  is  shown  in  figure  155,  g  and  h. 
In  this  last  moult  the  tubercled  skin  splits  on  the  back, 
and  is  soon  worked  off,  the  body  in  the  winged  insect 
having  neither  tubercles  nor  granulations. 

These  winged  insects  are  most  abundant  in  August 
and  September,  but  may  be  found  as  early  as  the  first  of 
July,  and  until  the  vines  cease  growing  in  the  fall.  The 
majority  of  them  are  females,  with  the  abdomen  large, 
and  more  or  less  elongate.  From  two  to  five  eggs  may 
invariably  be  found  in  the  abdomen  of  these,  and  are 
easily  seen  when  the  insect  is  held  between  the  light,  or 
mounted  in  balsam  or  glycerine.  A  certain  proportion 
have  an  entirely  different  shaped  and  smaller  body,  the 
abdomen  being  short,  contracted,  and  terminating  in  a 
fleshy  and  dusky  protuberance;  the  limbs  stouter,  and 
the  wings  proportionately  larger  and  stouter. 

This  form  has  been  looked  upon  as  the  male  by  myself, 
Planchon,  Lichtenstein  and  others.  Yet  we  have  never 
succeeded  in  witnessing  it  performing  the  functions  of  a 
male,  nor  has  any  one  else  that  we  are  aware  of.  The 
males  in  all  plant-lice  are  quite  rare,  and,  in  the  great 
majority  of  species,  unknown. 

As  fall  advances  the  winged  individuals  become  more 
and  more  scarce,  and  as  winter  sets  in,  only  eggs,  newly- 
hatched  larvae,  and  a  few  wing-less,  egg-bearing  mothers 
are  seen.  These  last  die  and  disappear  during  the  winter, 
which  is  mostly  passed  in  the  larva  state,  with  here  and 
there  a  few  eggs.  The  larvae  thus  hibernating  (fig.  154, 
7;),  become  dingy,  with  the  body  and  limbs  more 
shagreened  and  the  claws  less  perfect  than  when  first 
hatched;  and,  of  thousands  examined,  all  bear  the  same 
appearance,  and  all  are  furnished  with  strong  suckers. 
As  soon  as  the  ground  thaws  and  the  sap  starts  in  the 
spring,  these  young  lice  work  off  their  winter  coat,  and, 
growing  apace,  commence  to  deposit  eggs. 

At  this  season  of  the  year,  with  the  exuberant  juices  of 


256  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

the  plant,  the  swellings  on  the  roots  are  large  and  succu- 
lent, and  the  lice  plump  to  repletion.  One  generation  of 
the  mother  form  (A)  follows  another — fertility  increasing 
with  the  increasing  heat  and  luxuriance  of  summer — 
until  at  least  the  third  or  fourth  has  been  reached  before 
the  winged  form  (B)  makes  its  appearance  in  the  latter 
part  of  June  or  early  in  July. 

Since  (in  1870)  the  absolute  identity  of  these  two  types 
was  proved,  by  showing  that  the  gall-lice  become  root- 
lice,  the  fact  has  been  repeatedly  substantiated  by  dif- 
ferent observers.  (In  1873  galls  were  obtained  on  the 
leaves  of  a  Clinton  vine  from  the  root-inhabiting  type, 
thus  establishing  the  identity  of  the  two  types). 

THE     MORE    MANIFEST     AND    EXTERNAL     EFFECTS    OF 

THE  PHYLLOXERA  DISEASE. — The  result  which  follows 
the  puncture  of  the  root-louse  is  an  abnormal  swelling, 
differing  in  form  according  to  the  particular  part  and 
texture  of  the  root.  These  swellings,  which  are  generally 
commenced  at  the  tip  of  the  rootlets,  eventually  rot,  and 
the  lice  forsake  them  and  betake  themselves  to  fresh  ones 
— the  living  tissue  being  necessary  to  the  existence  of  this 
as  of  all  plant-lice.  The  decay  affects  the  parts  adjacent 
to  the  swellings,  and  on  the  more  fibrous  roots  cuts  off 
the  supply  of  sap  to  all  parts  beyond.  As  these  last  de- 
compose, the  lice  congregate  on  the  larger  ones,  until  at 
last  the  root  system  literally  wastes  away.  The  appear- 
ance of  the  root  fibres  before  and  after  they  have  been 
attacked  by  the  insect,  is  shown  in  figure  155,  #,  b,  c. 

During  the  first  year  of  the  attack  there  are  scarcely 
any  outward  manifestations  of  disease,  though  the  fibrous 
roots,  if  examined,  will  be  found  covered  with  nodosities, 
particularly  in  the  latter  part  of  the  growing  season. 
The  disease  is  then  in  its  incipient  stage.  The  second 
year  all  these  fibrous  roots  vanish,  and  the  lice  not  only 
prevent  the  formation  of  new  ones,  but,  as  just  stated, 
settle  on  the  larger  roots,  which  they  injure,  and  which 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  257 

become  disorganized  and  rot.  At  this  stage  the  out- 
ward symptoms  of  the  disease  first  become  manifest,  in  a 
sickly,  yellowish  appearance  of  the  leaf  and  a  reduced 
growth  of  cane.  As  the  roots  continue  to  decay,  these 
symptoms  become  more  acute,  until  by  about  the  third 
year  the  vine  dies.  Such  is  the  course  of  the  malady  on 
the  European  vine  ( V.  vinifera),  when  circumstances  are 
favorable  to  the  increase  of  the  pest.  When  the  vine  is 
about  dying  it  is  generally  impossible  to  discover  the 
cause  of  the  death,  the  lice,  which  had  been  so  numerous 
the  first  and  second  years  of  invasion,  having  left  for 
fresh  pasturage. 

MODE  OF  SPREADING. — The  gall-lice  can  only  spread 
by  travelling,  when  newly  hatched,  from  one  vine  to 
another;  and  if  this  slow  mode  of  progression  were  the 
only  one  which  the  species  is  capable  of,  the  disease 
would  be  comparatively  harmless.  The  root-lice,  how- 
ever, not  only  travel  under  ground  along  the  interlock- 
ing roots  of  adjacent  vines,  but  crawl  actively  over  the 
surface  of  the  ground,  or  wing  their  way  from  vine  to 
vine,  and  from  vineyard  to  vineyard.  Doubts  have  been 
repeatedly  expressed  by  European  writers  as  to  the  power 
of  such  a  delicate  and  frail- winged  fly  to  traverse  the  air 
to  any  great  distance. 

But  there  is  abundant  evidence  as  to  their  power  of 
flight;  they  have  been  caught  in  spider-webs  in  Europe, 
and  have  been  captured  on  sheets  of  paper  prepared  with 
bird-lime,  and  suspended  in  an  infested  vineyard,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  they  can  sustain  flight  for  a  con- 
siderable time  under  favorable  conditions,  and,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  wind,  they  may  be  wafted  to  great  dis- 
tances. These  winged  females  are  much  more  numerous 
in  the  fall  of  the  year  than  has  been  supposed.  Where- 
ever  they  settle,  the  few  eggs  which  each  carries  are  suf- 
ficient to  perpetuate  the  species,  and  thus  spread  the  dis- 
ease, which,  in  the  fullest  sense,  may  be  called  contagious. 


258  INJURIOUS   INSECTS.  • 

SUSCEPTIBILITY  OF  DIFFERENT  VINES  TO  THE  DIS- 
EASE.— As  a  means  of  coping  with  the  Phylloxera  dis- 
ease, a  knowledge  of  the  relative  susceptibility  of  different 
varieties  to  the  attacks  and  injuries  of  the  insect  is  of 
paramount  importance.  As  is  often  the  case  with  injurious 
insects,  the  Phylloxera  shows  a  preference  for  and  thrives 
best  on  certain  species,  and  even  discriminates  between 
varieties;  or,  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing,  practi- 
cally, some  varieties  resist  its  attacks,  and  enjoy  a  rela- 
tive immunity  from  its  injuries.  It  may  be  stated  that 
there  is  a  relation  between  the  susceptibility  of  the  vine 
and  the  character  of  its  roots — the  slow-growing,  more 
tender-wooded,  and  consequently  more  tender-rooted 
varieties  succumbing  most  readily;  the  more  vigorous 
growers  resisting  best.  The  European  Vine  ( Vitis  vini- 
fera),  in  its  many  varieties,  is  little  affected  by  the  leaf- 
inhabiting  type,  but  it  succumbs  in  a  few  years  to  the 
root-lice.  Varieties  of  the  Northern  Fox-grape  (  V.  La- 
bruscd)  vary  much;  some,  like  the  Concord  and  others, 
resist  well,  while  others,  like  the  Oatawba,  suffer  severe- 
ly. Varieties  derived  from  V.  cestivalis  and  F.  cordifo- 
lia  are  nearly  exempt  from  the  root-form,  but  some  of 
them  have  the  leaves  much  attacked  by  the  gall-type. 
The  Southern  Fox-grape  ( V.  vulpina)  is  entirely  free 
from  Phylloxera  in  any  form. 

EEMEDIES  AND  PREVENTIVES. — Thus  far,  the  only 
practicable  method  of  combating  the  insect  when  estab- 
lished upon  the  root,  is  by  drowning  it  by  irrigating  the 
soil.  In  Europe,  the  method  largely  adopted  is  to  graft 
their  vines  upon  varieties,  the  roots  of  which  are  Phyl- 
loxera proof ;  for  this  purpose  American  varieties  have 
been  sent  to  Europe  in  immense  numbers,  as  cuttings 
and  as  rooted  plants.  An  enterprising  grape-growing 
firm  has  even  established  nurseries  in  Europe  for  the  pro- 
duction of  vines  that  resist  the  Phylloxera. 


Jptiw^ 

KV          ,iv    TWff  'A 


OF   THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 

y^sVX^ 

OF   THE 

THE  GRAPE  LEAF-HOPPED. 
(Tettigonia  vitis,    Harris.) 


In  many  parts  of  the  country,  if  one  passes  through  a 
vineyard  during  July  or  August,  he  will  be  annoyed  by  the 
clouds  of  a  small  insect  which,  as  it  flies,  appears  as  if  it 
were  of  a  dirty  white  color.  These  insects  are  generally 
known  as  "  Thrips,"  a  name  belonging  to  a  different 
genus,  and  which  should  be  superseded  by  Leaf-hopper. 
The  insect  belongs  to  the  Order  Hemiptera,  or  true  Bugs. 
It  is  the  Tettigonia  vitis  of  Harris  (though  some  authors 
place  it  in  Erythroneura),  who  thus  describes  it:  "  In  its 
perfect  state  it  measures  one-tenth  of  inch 
in  length.  It  is  of  a  pale-yellow  color ; 
there  are  two  little  red  lines  on  the 
head.  The  back  part  of  the  thorax, 
the  scutel,  the  base  of  the  wing-covers, 
and  a  broad  band  across  their  middle 
are  scarlet;  the  tips  of  the  wing-covers 
Fig.  156.— GRAPE  are  blackish,  and  there  are  some  little 
LEAF-HOPPER.  recL  ;iines  between  the  broad  band  and 
the  tips.  The  head  is  crescent-shaped  above,  and  the 
eyelets  are  situated  just  below  the  ridge  of  the  front." 
The  insects  appear  upon  the  underside  of  the  leaves 
in  June,  but  are  not  much  noticed,  as  they  do  not 
have  their  wings  until  later.  They  pass  their  larvae  state 
quietly,  sucking  at  the  juices  of  the  leaves,  which  they 
penetrate  with  their  beaks,  though  if  disturbed  at  this 
time,  they  leap  from  leaf  to  leaf  in  a  lively  manner. 
They  undergo  all  their  changes  on  the  leaves,  and  their 
empty  skins  may  be  found  on  the  underside  of  the  leaves, 
or  upon  the  ground  beneath  the  vine,  in  great  numbers. 
The  insect  probably  hibernates  in  the  perfect  state,  hid- 
den in  the  rubbish  and  in  tufts  of  grass.  When  present 
in  great  numbers,  they  rob  the  vine  of  its  proper  nutri- 


260  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

ment,  and  induce  a  weakly  condition  which  results  in 
poorly  developed  fruit.  They  attack  the  thin-leaved  va- 
rieties in  preference  to  those  with  more  robust  foliage, 
such  as  the  Concord,  and  vines  of  that  class.  Occasion- 
ally they  cause  much  annoyance  by  attacking  the  exotic 
vine  under  glass.  The  Leaf-hopper  seems  to  be  more 
abundant  at  the  East  than  at  the  West,  and  in  "some  sea- 
sons is  very  numerous  in  the  vineyards  of  Western  New 
York.  It  has  been  suggested  to  destroy  the  young  insect 
by  fumigating  witli  tobacco  smoke,  using  a  movable  tent 
to  cover  the  trellis  and  confine  the  smoke.  When  the 
insect  can  fly,  it  may  be  destroyed  by  carrying  lighted 
torches  through  the  vine-yard,  though  at  this  time  most 
of  the  mischief  has  been  done. 


THE  CRANBERRY. 

Several  insects  are  injurious  to  the  Cranberry,  but  as 
these  are  treated  of  in  full  in  the  standard  works  on  the 
culture  of  this  fruit,  and  as  they  are  of  interest  only  to  a 
comparatively  small  number  of  persons,  a  brief  enumera- 
tion is  all  that  need  be  given  here.  The  conditions  under 
which  Cranberry  culture  only  can  be  successful — the 
ability  to  flood  the  plantation  with  water,  and  to  draw  it 
off  at  will — are  those  which  afford  a  remedy  against 
nearly  all  of  these  insects.  Flooding  at  the  right  time 
will  allow  the  cultivator  to  destroy  the  insects  that  attack 
the  vines,  as  well  as  those  that  injure  the  fruit. 

THE  VINE-WORM  is  the  larva  of  a  moth  (Anchylopera 
vacciniand)  which  feeds  upon  the  foliage.  In  Massachu- 
setts, it  hatches  about  the  20th  of  May,  from  eggs  which 
have  remained  on  the  vine  during  the  winter,  and  again, 
about  the  4th  of  July,  a  second  crop  appears  from  eggs 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  261 

laid  in  June.  The  eggs  are  a  flat,  circular  scale,  of  a 
honey-yellow  color,  and  are  deposited  on  the  underside 
of  the  leaves. 

THE  FRUIT-WORM  is  also  the  larva  of  a  moth,  but  a 
distinct  and  not  identified  species.  It  is  of  a  yellowish- 
green  color,  and  enters  berry  after  berry,  eating  the  in- 
side of  each,  and  finally  goes  into  the  ground  to  spin  its 
cocoon,  and  change  to  a  chrysalis  state;  unlike  the  Vine- 
worm,  which  spins  its  cocoon  among  the  leaves  at  the  end 
of  the  vine,  drawing  two  together  for  this  purpose. 

The  leaves  are  also  attacked  by  the  larva  of  a  Saw-fly 
(PristipJiora  identidem),  but  this  insect  is  not  numerous. 
The  Fly  makes  a  slit  in  the  leaves,  depositing  an  egg 
within.  Broods  of  this  species  appear  in  June  and 
August. 

THE  BUD-WORM,  a  small  reddish-brown  beetle  (AntJio- 
nomus  suturalis),  about  the  middle  of  July,  selects  blos- 
soms just  before  they  are  ready  to  expand,  and  deposits 
in  them  an  egg  through  a  hole  made  in  the  center  of  the 
bud.  The  beetle  usually  cuts  off  the  bud  after  deposit- 
ing its  egg.  A  dull- white  grub  hatches  from  the  egg, 
and  feeds  within  the  bud,  changing  to  a  pupa,  and  then 
to  a  perfect  beetle,  and  eats  its  way  out,  leaving  a  round 
hole  in  the  side  of  the  bud.  The  beetles  sometimes, 
though  seldom,  feed  upon  the  berry.  The  larvae  are 
often  killed  by  a  minute  chalcis  fly. 

Some  other  insects  are  occasionally  injurious;  if  not 
disastrously  so,  they  serve  to  weaken  the  vines  and  inter- 
fere with  their  productiveness.  Among  these  is  a  Leaf- 
hopper  (Clastoptera  protetis,  Fitch.)  In  its  larval  state, 
it  covers  itself  with  froth;  the  perfect  insect  jumps  with 
the  agility  of  a  flea.  Also  a  small  Gall-gnat,  the  maggot 
of  which  is  in  some  places  called  the  "Tip-worm,"  as  it 
draws  together  the  small  leaves  afc  the  tips  of  the  grow- 
ing shoots, 


Insects  of  the  Flower  Garden  arid  Green-House, 


Flowering  plants,  whether  in  the  green-house  or  in  the 
dwelling,  are  subject  to  the  attacks  of  several  insects, 
which,  unless  they  are  kept  in  subjection,  soon  cause  the 
plants  to  assume  an  unhealthy  appearance.  Most  of  the 
insects  that  infest  the  plants  when  indoors,  as  a  general 
thing,  remain  upon  them  when  they  are  placed  outside 
during  warm  weather,  and  some  of  them  attack  hardy 
plants  also. 

In  green-houses,  where  water  can  be  freely  used  to 
shower  the  plants,  and  where  the  house  can  be  filled  with 
tobacco  smoke  as  often  as  may  be  necessary,  there  is  little 
difficulty  in  keeping  the  plants  in  a  healthy  condition  so 
far  as  insects  are  concerned.  Those  who  cultivate  win- 
dow plants  find  it  more  difficult  to  keep  them  free  from 
insects  by  these  means.  Where  syringing  is  necessary, 
the  pots  may  be  set  in  a  bath-tub  or  sink,  or,  if  it  is  de- 
sired to  wet  the  underside  of  the  leaves,  laid  upon  the 
side,  and  water  applied  by  means  of  a  syringe,  or  by  the 
use  of  a  watering-pot  with  a  fine  rose;  this  should  be  held 
high  above  the  plants  in  order  that  the  water  may  fall 
with  force  against  the  foliage.  All  smooth-leaved  plants, 
such  as  Camellias,  Ivy,  etc.,  should  have  the  leaves  oc- 
casionally washed  on  both  sides,  by  the  use  of  a  sponge 
or  soft  cloth;  this  will  not  only  remove  the  dust,  but  be 
of  great  service  in  keeping  the  insects  in  check. 

House  plants  may  be  fumigated  by  having  a  large  box, 

in  which  they  may  be  shut  up,  and  the  smoke  made  by 

damp  tobacco  stems  or  other  cheap  form  of  tobacco  upon 

a  few  live  coals  placed  in  an  iron  vessel  or  an  old  flower 

262 


OF  THE   FARM   AHD   GARDEH.  263 

pot.  As  the  use  of  smoke  in  the  small  way  is  incon- 
venient, and  as  there  is  a  risk  of  injuring  the  plants  by 
over-heating,  it  is  better  to  apply  tobacco  in  the  liquid 
form.  The  cheapest  kind  of  tobacco  are  the  "  stems," 
really  the  mid-ribs  of  the  leaves,  removed  by  the  cigar 
makers.  Either  these  or  cheap  tobacco  of  any  other  kind, 
may  be  placed  in  any  convenient  vessel  and  covered  with 
water.  The  infusion  thus  made  will  be  too  strong  to  ap- 
ply to  the  plants,  and  when  used  should  be  diluted  with 
water  until  it  is  of  the  color  of  ordinary  tea.  The  plants 
may  be  syringed  with  this,  or  it  may  be  applied  with  the 
watering-pot,  as  suggested  for  the  use  of  water.  The 
most  thorough  method  of  using  tobacco-water,  and  on 
the  whole  the  most  convenient,  is  to  have  it  properly  di- 
luted in  a  deep  tub  or  barrel,  and  to  dip  the  plants  in  it, 
moving  them  up  and  down  a  few  times  before  removing 
them.  If  this  can  be  done  once  a  week  the  plants  will 
be  kept  free  from  most  insects. 

The  insects  which  attack  flowering  plants  in  the  open 
air  only,  are  chiefly  the  Rose-bug  and  the  Rose-slug, 
though  grasshoppers,  when  abundant,  are  sometimes 
troublesome.  The  Rose-bug  by  no  means  confines  itself 
to  the  plant  from  which  it  takes  its  name;  it  is  described 
under  the  Insects  Injurious  to  the  Grape-vine  on  page  245. 

THE  ROSE-SLUG. 
(Selandria  rosce,  Harris.) 

The  main  points  in  the  history  of  this  well-known  gar- 
den pest  are  given  by  Harris  in  his  "Insects  Injurious  to 
Vegetation,"  etc.  It  undoubtedly  originated  in  New 
England,  probably  upon  Rosa  lucida  or  R.  Uanda,  as 
these  are  the  species  of  wild  Rose  upon  which  it  prefera- 
bly feeds.  Dr.  Harris  first  observed  it  in  the  gardens  of 
Cambridge,  Mass.,  in  1831,  and  observes  that  six  or  seven 


264  INJURIOUS    INSECTS 

years  elapsed  before  it  made  its  appearance  in  Milton, 
where  he  then  resided.  It  feeds  only  at  night,  except  in 
very  cloudy  weather,  and  exclusively  upon  the  upper  sur- 
face of  the  leaf,  from  which  it  gnaws  the  soft  portion, 
leaving  the  veins  intact.  During  the  day  it  rests  motion- 
less on  the  underside  of  the  leaf. 

The  larval  life  of  this  insect  extends  over  a  period  of 
fourteen  days,  during  which  it  moults  four  times.  The 
full-grown  slug  is  rather  more  than  one-third  of  an  inch 
in  length,  by  one-ninth  in  diameter.  The  thoracic  joints 
are  somewhat  smaller  and  humped,  but  not  puffed  out 
laterally,  as  in  some  closely  allied  species,  nor  has  it,  like 
these,  a  slimy  surface.  The  color  is  a  translucent  dull- 
yellow,  becoming  more  opaque  at  the  last  moult.  Soon 
after  this  it  enters  the  ground,  and  incloses  itself  in  a 
fragile,  earthen  cocoon,  within  which  it  remains  dormant 
for  many  months,  not  changing  to  pupa  until  the  follow- 
ing spring.  Harris's  assertion  that  it  is  double-brooded 
has  long  been  doubted  by  careful  observers,  and  is  un- 
questionably disproved  by  Miss  Murtfeldt's  experiments. 

Owing  to  the  longevity  of  the  flies  and  the  different 
dates  at  which  they  emerge,  there  is  a  succession  of  lar- 
vae, covering  a  period  of  from  four  to  six  weeks;  but  they 
are  all  of  the  same  brood,  and  when  once  they  have 
entered  the  ground,  that  is  the  end  of  them  for  the  sea- 
son. 

The  Rose-slug,  like  most  other  insects,  has  a  large 
number  of  natural  enemies,  but  these  are  not  yet  ade- 
quate to  the  task  of  keeping  it  in  check.  The  attention 
of  florists  has,  therefore,  been  largely  directed  to  the 
discovery  of  some  reliable  artificial  remedy. 

Various  applications  have  been  tried  with  more  or  less 
success,  among  which  the  most  certain  in  its  effects  is 
whale-oil  soap  suds,  made  in  the  proportions  of  one  pound 
of  soap  to  eight  gallons  of  water.  The  objections  to  this 
remedy  are,  that  it  has  a  disagreeable  odor  and  is  liable  to 


OF   THE   FARM   AND    GARDEN.  265 

discolor  the  opening  buds.  Dusting  freely  with  White 
Hellebore  has  also  been  tried  with  yery  good  success,  and 
it  may  be  used  in  water,  as  directed  for  Currant  worms, 
p.  204.  The  Pyrethrum  powders  have  as  yet  been  used 
only  to  a  limited  extent,  but  with  the  prospect  that 
throughly  applied  they  would  prove  effectual. 

PLANT-LICE—APHIDES. 

There  are  a  great  many  species  of  plant-lice  or  aphides. 
Almost  every  plant  is  liable  to  the  attacks  of  some  species 
peculiar  to  itself.  They  are  found  upon  the  roots  as 
well  as  upon  the  stems  and  leaves,  where  they  insert  their 
long  tubular  beaks  and  suck  the  juices  of  the  plants,  and 
only  change  their  places  when  they  have  exhausted  the 
sap  in  that  locality.  It  would  be  impossible  to  even  men- 
tion the  various  species  in  a  work  like  this,  much  less  to 
give  a  detailed  description  of  them.  Every  farmer  and 
gardener  will  know  from  the  curled  appearance  of  the 
leaves  of  various  trees  and  herbaceous  plants  the  author 
of  the  mischief. 

Numerous  parasites  keep  these  destructive  plant-lice 
greatly  in  check,  and  it  is  always  well  to  look  closely,  be- 
fore making  an  application  to  destroy  the  lice,  to  see  if 
there  are  not  some  parasites  at  work,  and  if  so  they  will 
often  clear  the  plants  much  more  effectively  than  any 
remedy  we  can  apply.  This  I  have  observed  both  at  the 
North  and  South,  and  usually  when  I  have  been  studying 
other  insects. 

In  Florida  I  was  studying  a  large  black  and  red  ant 
(Campanotus  esuriens),  and  was  greatly  interested  in 
their  immense  droves  of  dark-colored  aphides — the  "  ant's 
cows"  as  they  are  often  called,  that  were  thickly  clustered 
on  the  underside  of  the  young  leaves  of  an  orange  tree. 
While  watching  the  ants  moving  about  among  the  droves, 
I  noticed  several  tiny  Ichneumon  flies  mounting  the 
12 


266  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

backs  of  the  plant-lice.  They  were  so  small  as  to  be 
scarcely  visible  to  the  naked  eye,  but  a  good  lens  soon 
helped  me  to  see  what  they  were  doing.  They  were  busy 
depositing  eggs  in  the  "ant's  cows!"  The  Ichneumon 
would  mount  the  back  of  a  "  cow/'  when  the  latter  would 
become  restive  and  try  to  dismount  its  rider  by  kicking 
and  nearly  standing  on  its  head,  and  this  would  set  the 
others  next  it  to  kicking  in  the  same  way,  until  all  on 
the  leaf  seemed  to  be  panic-stricken,  and  were  kicking, 
striking,  and  throwing  themselves  about  in  a  most  ludi- 
crous manner,  all  the  while  holding  on  by  their  beaks. 
And  it  was  very  amusing  to  see  the  excited  ants  trying 
to  find  the  cause  of  the  panic.  But  the  little  Ichneu- 
mons did  not "  seem  to  be  in  the  least  disconcerted  and 
did  their  work  most  effectually  as  the  sequel  proved. 

Not  many  days  after  I  witnessed  the  egg-laying,  the 
abdomens  of  the  plant-lice  were  very  much  distended,  and 
they  no  longer  gave  any  nourishment  to  the  ants,  who 
passed  around  among  them  as  if  discouraged.  Two  ants 
would  meet  and  seem  to  consult  over  the  matter,  then 
they  would  stroke  the  " cows"  with  their  antennae,  but 
meeting  with  no  response  they  would  pass  to  another 
leaf,  with  no  better  result.  At  last  they  tried  to  remove 
the  "  cows,"  they  would  take  them  gently  in  their  mandi- 
bles, but  in  many  cases  the  beak  was  inserted  so  firmly  in 
the  leaf  or  twig  they  could  not  remove  it.  When  they 
did  succeed  in  removing  one  they  invariably  carried  it  to 
the  nest. 

This  was  the  most  complete  destruction  of  plant-lice  I 
ever  witnessed.     I  could  not  find  a  single  living  speci- 
men left.     In  due  time  a  little  shining  black  Ichneumon  ~ 
fly — the  counterpart  of  its  mother — emerged  from  a  hole 
in  the  back  of  each  aphis. 

Since  my  observations  were  made  on  this  orange  aphis 
it  has  been  named  by  Mr.  Ashmead,  SipJionophora  citri- 
folii,  and  the  little  Ichneumon  has  been  named  by  Mr. 


OF  THE  FARM   AKD   GARDEN.  267 

Cresson  as  a  species  of  Trioxys.  Aphides,  wherever  they 
occur,  are  readily  destroyed  by  the  use  of  tobacco,  applied 
as  smoke  or  in  infusion  as  already  described.  What  is 
known  to  gardeners  as  the  "Blue  Louse"  is  an  aphis 
which  sometimes  attacks  the  roots  of  verbenas,  asters, 
and  other  flowers  in  such  numbers  as  to  cause  their  death 
before  the  source  of  the  trouble  is  suspected.  When 
these  underground  lice  attack  the  roots,  a  persistent  ap- 
plication of  tobacco-water  will  save  the  plants  if  it  is 
used  before  the  injury  has  gone  too  far. 

THE  MEALY-BUG. 
Genus  Dactylopius. 

This  insect  is  a  common  pest  of  the  green-house  both 
in  this  country  and  in  Europe,  and  is  often  injurious  to 
plants  in  the  open  air. 
There  are  several  spe- 
cies, all  of  which  are 
more  or  less  covered 
with  a  quantity  of 
floury  matter  secreted 
through  pores  scat- 
tered over  the  body. 
They  are  often  very 
abundant  upon  almost 

every  variety  of  house-plant  and  very  destructive.  They 
are  most  frequently  found  in  the  crotches  of  the  branches, 
and  close  down  in  the  axils  of  the  leaves,  though  they  do 
not  confine  themselves  to  these  places.  The  engraving,  fig- 
ure 157,  shows  a  Mealy-bug,  with  its  powdery  covering 
removed  and  much  magnified.  One  species — D.  de- 
structor, Com  stock — is  one  of  the  worst  enemies  to  the 
orange  groves  in  Florida. 

Professor  Comstock,  in  his  Report  as  Entomologist  of 


268  INJURIOUS   INSECTS. 

the  Department  of  Agriculture,  says:  "the  natural  ene- 
mies of  the  Mealy-bug — D.  destructor — is  a  little  chalcis 
fly  (Encyrtus  inquisitor,  Howard)/'  also  "  a  small  red 
bug  was  observed  by  myself  and  several  of  our  correspond- 
ents to  prey  upon  the  Mealy-bug.  The  very  curious  lar- 
vae of  a  lady-bird  beetle,  known  as  Scymnus  lioculatus, 
were  found  feeding  upon  the  eggs  of  the  Mealy-bug  at 
Orange  Lake.  These  larvae  mimic  the  Mealy-bug  so 
closely  they  might  easily  be  taken  for  them." 

The  great  difficulty  in  the  way  of  destroying  this  insect 
is  the  floury  secretion  with  which  it  is  covered,  most 
washes  having  little  effect  upon  it.  The  best  remedies,  so 
far  as  I  know,  are  given  by  Professor  Comstock  in  the 
Report  above  mentioned. 

EEMEDIES. 

"  SNUFF  AND  SULPHUR. — Equal  parts  by  bulk  of  smok- 
ing tobacco  and  flowers  of  sulphur  were  ground  together 
in  a  mortar  until  thoroughly  mixed.  This  compound 
was  perfectly  successful  when  dusted  over  wet  plants; 
and  it  adhered  to  the  plant  for  a  long  time  notwithstand- 
ing rain.  Still  this  does  not  seem  to  me  to  be  a  remedy 
that  will  admit  of  successful  and  economical  application 
on  a  large  scale.  It  may  be  useful  in  conservatories,  and 
upon  ornamental  plants." 

A  decoction  of  tobacco  is  also  useful  in  destroying  the 
Mealy-bug.  The  Mealy-bug  upon  window  plants  and 
upon  those  in  green-houses,  if  taken  in  time  and  perse- 
veringly  followed,  may  be  kept  in  check  by  a  modified 
hand-picking,  removing  the  insects  wherever  they  may 
be  found  by  means  of  a  small  stick,  such  as  a  sliver  of  pine 
sharpened  to  a  point.  An  "exterminator"  is  offered, 
but  as  its  composition  is  kept  secret,  it  can  not  be  intel- 
ligently commended. 


OF  THE  FARM  AND  GARDEN.  269 

THE    ROCKY    MOUNTAIN     LOCUST. 

(Caloptenus  spretus,  Thomas.) 

Though  the  ravages  of  this  insect  are  confined  to  a  lim- 
ited area,  its  destructiveness  is  so  great  in  the  localities  it 
visits,  that  it  seems  desirable  in  a  work  like  the  present 
to  give  the  leading  facts  in  its  history.  It  is  usually 
called  the  Rocky  Mountain  Locust,  but  is  sometimes 
known  as  the  "Hateful  Grasshopper."  This  insect  has 
visited  Kansas,  Nebraska  and  other  Western  States  with 
most  destructive  effect,  the  recital  of  which  reminds  one 
of  the  accounts  of  the  plagues  of  Egypt.  Few  insects 
have  had  their  life  history  more  thoroughly  studied,  and 
the  useful  information  given  by  entomologists  concerning 
this  single  insect  has  more  than  warranted  the  cost  of  the 
various  State  and  General  Government  Commissions.  An 
elaborate  account  of  this  insect  is  given  in  the  Seventh 
Missouri  Report,  and  another,  in  the  Report  of  the  U.  S. 
Entomological  Commission  for  1880.  The  following  is 
compiled  from  an  account  in  the  "American  Entomolo- 
gist," by  Wm.  A.  Byers,  and  from  other  sources.  The 
Rocky  Mountain  Locust  is  common  in  all  the  western 
or  rainless  region,  one-third  of  the  United  States,  but 
its  breeding  place  is  upon  the  hot,  parched  plains  and 
table  lands,  from  four  to  six  thousand  feet  above  the 
sea.  The  greater  the  heat,  the  more  they  flourish. 
Though  they  endure  considerable  cold  and  live,  they  are 
at  the  same  time  exceedingly  sensitive  to  its  effects;  be- 
coming torpid  in  frosty  nights  or  in  snow  storms,  and 
reviving  to  active  life  in  the  succeeding  sunshine.  The 
swarms  that  devastate  the  country  in  their  flights  are  in- 
variably natives  of  sandy  plains  or  basins,  comparatively 
destitute  of  vegetation,  where  the  direct  and  reflected 
heat  of  the  sun's  rays  in  summer  are  more  intense  than 


270  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

are  experienced  in  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi.  The 
humidity,  however,  is  very  much  less;  the  air  being  like 
that  of  a  furnace.  In  such  places,  and  on  the  hottest 
days,  the  Grasshopper  is  the  most  active,  and  then  it  at- 
tains its  greatest  perfection.  When  it  has  reached  a  cer- 
tain stage  in  its  existence,  it  takes  to  flight.  Those 
hatched  in  the  same  locality,  and  necessarily  under  the 
same  climatic  influences,  rise  in  the  air  about  the  same 
time,  but  they  do  not  move  in  concert.  Their  course  is 
directed  by  the  prevailing  winds  more  than  by  any  other 
influence.  Consequently,  in  this  country,  'it  is  generally 
from  northwest  to  southeast.  They  alight  or  move  for- 
ward at  pleasure,  each  individual  upon  its  own  account. 
Many  of  them  fly  at  an  immense  height.  .  They  have 
been  seen  on  the  highest  peaks  of  the  snowy  range,  four- 
teen to  fifteen  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  filling  the 
air  as  much  higher  as  they  could  be  distinguished  with  a 
good  field  glass,  glistening  in  the  sunlight  like  snow- 
flakes.  In  crossing  the  snowy  ranges  countless  myriads 
of  them  perish.  Nearly  all  that  alight  for  food  become 
so  chilled  that  they  are  unable  to  rise  again,  and  in  a  few 
days  they  die.  On  the  great  snow  fields  it  is  nothing  un- 
common to  see  the  dead  so  plentiful  that  they  might  be 
shovelled  up  by  wagon  loads.  When  the  season  comes 
for  depositing  their  eggs,  the  swarms  which  happen  to  be 
in  favorable  localities,  proceed  to  do  so,  after  which  most 
of  them  soon  die  and  the  pest  disappears.  Some  doubt- 
less continue  their  flight.  If  the  succeeding  winter  is 
mild,  young  Grasshoppers  may  be  found  upon  sandy, 
sunny  hillsides  long  before  spring,  but  the  great  swarms 
appear  with  the  earliest  vegetation.  Then  it  is  they  are 
the  most  destructive.  It  is  a  common  belief  that  a  young 
Grasshopper  eats  more  than  half  a  dozen  full  grown  ones. 
They  feed  and  grow,  and  in  due  time  take  flight,  as  did 
the  generation  before  them.  But  few  Grasshoppers  are 
hatched  in  the  mountains,  properly  speaking.  It  is  true 


OF   THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN".  271 

they  do  in  some  of  the  valleys,  up  to  the  altitude  of  seven 
or  eight  thousand  feet — possibly  sometimes  to  nine  thou- 
sand— but  they  usually  come  out  so  late  that  the  frosts 
of  the  following  fall  catch  them  before  they  take  flight. 
As  an  illustration,  the  Middle  Park  of  the  Kocky  Moun- 
tains is  a  great  basin,  bowl-shaped,  with  a  single  line 
broken  out  of  its  western  rim.  Otherwise,  it  is  surround- 
ed by  snowy  mountains.  Fifteen  years  ago,  it  was  in- 
vaded by  Grasshoppers  from  the  direction  of  Utah, 
which  deposited  their  eggs  all  over  it.  In  its  lower  por- 
tion the  young  began  hatching  about  the  first  of  July. 
They  attained  maturity  and  took  flight  in  August. 
Their  hatching  ground  was  from  six  to  seven  and  a  half 
thousand  feet  above  the  sea.  Further  up  toward  the  rim 
they  came  out  later,  and  at  nine  thousand  feet  they  did 
not  appear  until  the  last  of  August.  September  frosts 
and  snows  caught  them,  and  they  never  left  their  native 
ground.  About  the  same  time  these  latter  hatched,  im- 
mense swarms  of  full-grown  insects  came  again  from  the 
west,  but  instead  of  lighting  in  the  Park  they  drifted  up 
against  and  upon  the  snowy  range  east  of  it,  where  they 
perished  in  countless  millions. 

In  August,  1864,  this  country  had  its  worst  visitation 
of  "Hateful  Grasshoppers."  They  had  hatched  in  the 
valleys  of  the  Upper  Missouri,  from  six  hundred  to  eight 
hundred  miles  distant,  and  swept  over  Colorado  with  a 
solid  front.  They  ate  up  late  crops  and  then  deposited 
their  eggs  and  died.  In  the  following  spring,  their  pro- 
geny came  out  of  the  ground  with  the  early  crops,  which 
they  devoured.  When  about  one- third  grown  they  were 
attacked  by  an  Ichneumon  Fly,  which  stung  them  in  the 
back,  depositing  one  or  more  eggs.  The  product  of  these 
destroyed  probably  one-half  or  two-thirds  of  the  Grass- 
hoppers, and  the  balance  in  due  time  took  flight  and  left 
us.  With  the  exception  of  those  two  years,  Colorado  has 
not  been  generally  nor  severely  scourged  by  that  pest. 


272  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

They  have  done  damage  in  several  restricted  localities, 
and  have  passed  over  in  greater  or  less  swarms  almost 
every  year  since  the  settlement  of  the  country,  but  the 
prevalent  idea  that  they  are  a  yearly  plague  is  a  mistake. 
In  New  Mexico,  which  has  been  settled  by  the  same 
people  for  two  hundred  years,  generation  after  genera- 
tion of  the  same  family,  cultivating  the  same  fields,  they 
say  they  expect  to  lose  about  one  crop  in  seven  by  Grass- 
hoppers. The  experience  in  Utah,  Montana,  Idaho  and 


Fig.  158.— THE  FEMALE  ROCKY  MOUNTAIN  LOCUST  DEPOSITING  HER  EGGS. 

a,  'a,  a,  Female  Locusts  in  different  positions,  ovipositing ;   b,  Egg-pod  extracted 

from  ground,  with  the  end  broken  open  ;   c,  Eggs  ;   d,  e,  Earth  partially  removed,  to 

show  an  egg-mass  already  in  place,  and  one  being  placed  ;  /,  shows  where  such  a 

mass  has  been  covered  up. 

Nevada,  is  about  the  same  as  Kansas  and  Nebraska, 
which  States  have  suffered  more  or  less  until  recently. 
They  will  not  propagate  in  great  numbers  in  the  Missis- 
sippi Valley — not  because  it  is  too  hot  or  too  low,  but  be- 
cause it  is  too  damp. 

"When  the  Grasshopper  invades  a  district,  it  at  once 
sets  about  depositing  its  eggs,  and  the  great  injury  to  be 
apprehended  is,  from  the  brood  to  be  hatched  from  them. 

EGG-LAYING  AND  HATCHING. — Figure  158  illustrates 
the  manner  in  which  the  female  lays  her  eggs.  With  two 


OF  THE   FARM   AND    GARDE 


pair  of  horny  valves  at  tlie  tip  of 

to  drill  a  cylindrical  hole  in  the  ground,  pref 


g^fer 


this  purpose  soil  that  is  rather  firm,  though  not  too  hard. 
In  a  moist  climate,  or  where  vegetation  is  rank,  she 
chooses  bare  and  exposed  places,  but  in  her  native  range, 
viz.,  the  Northwestern  Plains,  where  the  vegetation  is 
usually  scant  and  short,  she  chooses  rather  the  shade  at 
the  base  of  some  Sage  bush  or  Grease-wood  shrub.  When* 
the  hole  is  once  drilled  the  eggs  are  laid  in  four  tolerably 


Fig.  159.— EGG-MASSES  OF  LOCUST,   MAGNIFIED. 
EGG  MASS.— a,  from  the  Bide,  within  burrow ;  &,  from  beneath  j  c,  from  above. 

regular  rows  (fig.  159),  interspersed  by  a  fluid  which  is 
frothy  and  mucous,  and  which  dries  around  the  eggs  and 
fills  up  the  neck  of  the  burrow  (fig.  159,  d).  Each  fe- 
male lays  from  two  to  three  batches  of  eggs,  each  batch 
containing  about  thirty  eggs.  The  eggs  are  laid  through- 
out the  late  summer  and  fall  months  until  winter  sets  in, 
at  which  time  every  stage  of  embryonic  development  can 
be  found.  The  great  bulk  of  the  eggs  remain  unhatched 
until  the  ensuing  spring. 

HABITS  AND  DEVELOPMENT. — The  young  locusts  con- 
gregate in  large  numbers  in  warm  and  sunny  places.  At 
night,  or  during  cold  and  damp  weather,  they  usually 
huddle  together  under  any  shelter  or  rubbish  that  may  be 
at  hand.  They  do  not  migrate  until  they  have  eaten  off 
the  vegetation  where  they  hatch.  This  usually  happens 
when  they  are  about  one-third  or  one-half  grown.  They 


374 


IXJUKIOUS   INSECTS 


then  travel  during  the  warmer  hours  of  the  day  by  alter- 
nately walking  and  hopping  in  vast  bodies  in  some  given 
direction.  In  thus  travelling  they  move  at  the  average 
rate  of  about  three  yards  a  minute.  There  are  six  stages 


Fig.  160.— THE  LABV^J  AND  PUPA  OF  LOCUST, 
a,  a,  Newly-hatched  Larvae ;  b,  Full-grown  Larva ,  c,  Pupa  of  the  Locust. 

of  growth,  i.  e.,  the  locust  moults  at  five  different  periods. 
The  change  at  each  of  these  moults  is  but  slight,  and  the 
wing-pads  are  first  distinctly  noticeable  and  turned  up  in 


a. 


Fig.  161.— THE  PUPA  OP  THE  LOCUST  ACQUIRING  WINGS. 


a,  Papa  with  skin  just  split  on  the  back ;   &,  the  imago  extruding  ;  c,  the  imago  near- 
ly out ;  d,  the  imago  with  wings  expanded. 

the  fourth  stage,  or  after  the  third  moult.  After  the 
fourth  moult  we  have  the  true  pupa  stage  (fig.  160,  c), 
and  with  the  fifth  moult  the  wings  are  acquired,  the  pro- 
cess being  illustrated  at  figure  161.  The  time  required 


OJF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN.  275 

from  hatching  to  full  development  varies  according  to 
season  and  weather,  cold  and  wet  weather  retarding,  and 
warm  weather  accelerating  development.  It  averages, 
however,  two  months.  There  is  but  one  generation  each 
year,  the  term  of  the  insect's  life  being  bounded  by  the 
spring  and  autumn  frosts. 

Of  the  various  methods  of  combating  the  attacks  of 
this  Grasshopper,  we  have 

THE  DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  EGGS. — Harrowing  in  the 
autumn,  or  during  dry,  mild  weather  in  early  winter, 
will  prove  one  of  the  most  effectual  modes  of  destroying 
the  eggs  and  preventing  future  injury,  wherever  it  is 
available.  A  revolving  harrow  or  a  cultivator  will  do  ex- 
cellent service  in  this  way,  not  only  in  the  field,  but 
along  roadways  and  other  bare  and  uncultivated  places. 
The  object  should  be,  not  to  stir  deeply  but  to  scarify  and 
pulverize  as  much  as  possible  the  soil  to  about  the  depth 
of  an  inch. 

PLOWING. — Next  to  harrowing  this  is  one  of  the  most 
generally  available  means  possessed  by  the  farmer  of 
dealing  with  locust-eggs. 

IRRIGATION. — This  is  feasible  in  much  of  the  country 
subject  to  locust  ravages,  especially  in  the  mountain 
fields  or  gardens. 

COAL-OIL. — The  use  of  coal-oil  and  coal-tar  may  be 
considered,  as  both  substances  are  employed  in  various 
ways  for  trapping  and  destroying  the  insects.  Coal-oil  is 
the  very  best  and  cheapest  that  can  be  used  against  the 
locusts.  It  may  be  used  in  any  of  its  cruder  forms,  and 
various  contrivances  have  been  employed  to  facilitate  its 
practical  operation.  The  main  idea  embodied  in  these 
contrivances  is  that  of  a  shallow  receptacle  of  any  con- 
venient size  (varying  from  about  three  feet  square  to 
about  eight  or  ten  by  two  or  three  feet),  provided  with 
high  back  and  sides,  either  mounted  on  wheels  or  run- 


276  INJUKIOUS   INSECTS 

ners,  or  carried  (by  means  of  suitable  handles  or  support- 
ing rods)  by  hand.  If  the  "pan"  is  larger  than,  say, 
three  feet  square,  it  is  provided  with  transverse  positions 
which  serve  to  prevent  any  slopping  of  the  contents  (in 
case  water  and  oil  are  used),  when  the  device  is  subjected 
to  any  sudden  irregular  motion,  such  as  tipping,  or  in 
case  of  a  wheeled  pan,  when  it  passes  over  uneven 
ground.  The  wheeled  pan  is  used  like  a  wheelbarrow; 
the  hand-worked  pan  is  carried  by  long  handles  at  its 
ends.  On  pushing  or  carrying,  as  the  case  may  be,  these 
pans,  supplied  with  oil,  over  the  infested  fields,  and  man- 


.  162.—  COAL-OIL  PAN  FOB   CATCHING  LOCUSTS. 


ipulating  the  shafts  and  handles  so  as  to  elevate  or  de- 
press the  front  edge  of  the  pan  as  may  be  desired,  the 
locusts  are  startled  from  their  places  and  spring  into  the 
tar  or  oil,  when  they  are  either  entangled  by  the  tar  and 
die  slowly,  or,  coming  in  contact  with  the  more  active 
portion  of  the  oil  expire  almost  immediately.  Fig.  162 
represents  a  sheet-iron  pan  that  has  been  used  in  some  lo- 
calities with  good  results.  It  must  be  made  sufficiently 
tight  to  hold  kerosene,  of  which  sufficient  is  used  to  cover 
the  bottom.  A  simpler  form  of  pan  is  shown  in  figure 
163.  The  bottom  of  this  is  to  be  covered  with  a  thin  lay- 
er of  coal  tar.  Pans  of  this  kind  are  made  light  enough 
to  be  drawn  across  the  fields  by  boys  ;  or  if  heavy,  horses 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN. 


277 


are  used  to  drag  them.  The  majority  of  the  insects  per- 
ish within  the  pans,  which  must  be  occasionally  emptied. 
If  some  of  the  locusts  jump  out,  it  is  of  little  conse- 
quence, as  all  that  have  been  touched  by  the  oil  will  soon 
die.  In  Colorado  they  use  kerosene  to  good  advantage 


Fig.  163. — COAL-TAR  PAN  FOB  CATCHING  LOCUSTS. 

on  the  water  in  their  irrigating-ditches,  and  it  may  be 
used  anywhere  in  pans  or  on  cloths,  stretched  on  frames 
and  saturated  with  it,  to  be  drawn  over  the  field. 

DESTRUCTION  OF  THE  YOUNG  OR  UNFLEDGED  LOCUSTS. 

1st.  BURNING. — This  method  is  perhaps  the  best  in 
prairie  and  wheat-growing  regions,  which  compose  the 
larger  part  of  the  area  subject  to  devastation  by  this  lo- 
cust. In  such  regions  there  is  usually  more  or  less  old 
straw  or  hay  that  may  be  scattered  over  or  around  the 
field  in  heaps  and  windrows,  and  into  which  the  locusts, 
for  some  time  after  they  hatch,  may  be  driven  and 
burned.  During  cold  or  damp  weather  they  congregate 
of  their  own  accord  under  such  shelter,  when  they  may 
be  destroyed  by  burning,  without  the  necessity  of  previous 
driving.  Much  has  been  said  for  and  against  the  benefi- 
cial results  of  burning  the  prairies  in  the  spring.  This 


278  INJURIOUS   INSECTS 

is  chiefly  beneficial  around  cultivated  fields  or  along  the 
road  sides,  from  which  the  locusts  may  be  driven,  or 
from  which  they  will  of  themselves  pass  for  the  shelter 
the  prairie  aifords. 

As  locusts  disperse  more  and  more  from  their  hatch- 
ing-grounds into  the  prairie  as  they  develop,  burning  the 
grass  in  spring  is  beneficial  in  proportion  as  it  is  delayed. 

2nd.  CRUSHING. — The  wholesale  destruction  of  locusts 
by  this  means,  can  only  be  advantageously  accomplished 
where  the  ground  is  smooth  and  hard.  Where  the  sur- 
face of  the  ground  presents  this  character,  heavy  rolling 
can  be  successfully  employed,  especially  in  the  mornings 
and  evenings  of  the  first  eight  or  ten  days  after  the  newly 
hatched  young  have  made  their  appearance,  as  they  are 
generally  sluggish  during  these  times,  and  huddle  to- 
gether until  after  sunrise.  It  is  also  advantageously  em- 
ployed during  cold  weather  at  any  time  of  day,  since  the 
young  when  the  temperature  is  low  seek  shelter  under 
clods,  etc.  Various  machines  have  been  devised  for 
crushing  the  young. 

3rd.  TRAPPING. — This  can  easily  be  accomplished,  es- 
pecially when  the  locusts  are  making  their  way  from  roads 
and  hedges.  The  use  of  nets  at  sunrise,  or  long  strips 
of  muslin,  calico,  or  similar  materials,  converging  after 
the  manner  of  quail-nets  have  proved  very  satisfactory. 
By  digging  pits  or  holes  three  or  four  feet  deep,  and  then 
staking  the  two  wings  so  that  they  converge  toward 
them,  large  numbers  may  be  secured  in  this  way  after  the 
dew  is  on6  the  ground,  or  they  may  be  headed  off  when 
marching  in  a  given  direction.  Much  good  may  be  ac- 
complished by  changing  the  position  of  the  trap  while 
the  locusts  are  yet  small  and  congregate  in  isolated  or 
particular  patches. 

DITCHING  and  TRENCHING  properly  come  under  this 
head;  and  both  plans  are  very  effectual  in  protecting 


OF  THE   FARM   AND   GARDEN".  279 

crops  against  the  inroads  of  travelling  schools  of  the  in- 
sects. They  were  found  especially  advantageous  in  much 
of  the  ravaged  country  in  a  year  when  there  was  little  or 
no  hay  or  straw  to  burn.  They  are  the  best  available 
means  when  the  crops  are  advanced,  and  when  most  of 
the  other  destructive  methods  so  advisable  early  in  the 
season  can  no  longer  be  effectually  used.  Simple  ditches, 
two  feet  wide  and  two  feet  deep,  with  perpendicular 
sides,  offer  effectual  barriers  to  the  young  insects.  They 
must,  however,  be  kept  in  order  so  that  the  sides  next 
the  fields  to  be  protected  are  not  allowed  to  wash  out  or 
become  too  hard.  They  may  be  kept  friable  by  a  brush 
or  rake. 

The  young  locusts  tumble  into  such  a  ditch  and  ac- 
cumulate and  die  at  the  bottom  in  large  quantities.  In 
a  few  days  the  stench  becomes  great,  and  necessitates  the 
covering  up  of  the  mass.  In  order  to  keep  the  main 
ditch  open,  therefore,  it  is  best  to  dig  pits  or  deeper  side 
ditches  at  short  intervals,  in  which  the  locusts  will  accu- 
mulate and  may  be  buried.  If  a  trench  is  made  around 
a  field  about  hatching-time,  but  few  locusts  will  get  into 
that  field  until  they  acquire  wings,  and  by  that  time  the 
principal  danger  is  over,  and  the  insects  are  fast  disap- 
pearing. If  any  should  hatch  within  the  inclosure,  they 
are  easily  driven  into  the  ditches  dug  in  different  parts  of 
the  field. 

PROTECTION  BY  BARRIERS. — Where  ditches  are  not 
easily  made,  and  where  lumber  is  plentiful,  a  board  fence 
two  feet  high  and  with  a  three-inch  batten  nailed  to  the 
top  or  side  from  which  the  locusts  are  coming,  the  edge 
of  it  smeared  with  coal-tar,  serves  as  an  effectual  bar- 
rier, and  proves  useful  to  protect  regions,  where,  save  in 
exceptionally  favorable  locations,  agriculture  can  be  suc- 
cessfully carried  on  only  by  its  aid,  and  where  means  are 
already  extensively  provided  for  the  artificial  irrigation 


280  INJURIOUS  INSECTS 

of  large  areas.  Where  the  ground  is  light  and  porous, 
prolonged  and  excessive  moisture  will  cause  most  of  the 
eggs  to  perish,  and  irrigation  in  autumn  or  in  spring 
may  prove  beneficial. 

4th.  TRAMPING. — In  pastures  or  in  fields  where  hogs, 
cattle,  or  horses  can  be  confined  when  the  ground  is  not 
frozen,  many  if  not  most  of  the  locust-eggs  will  be  de- 
stroyed by  the  rooting  and  tramping. 

5th.  COLLECTING  THE  EGGS. — The  eggs  are  frequently 
placed  where  none  of  the  above  means  for  destroying 
them  can  be  employed.  In  such  cases  they  should  be 
collected  and  destroyed  by  the  inhabitants,  and  the  State 
should  offer  some  inducement  in  the  way  of  bounty  for 
such  collection  and  destruction.  Every  bushel  of  eggs 
destroyed  is  equivalent  to  a  hundred  acres  of  corn  saved, 
and  when  we  consider  the  amount  of  destruction  caused 
by  the  young,  and  that  the  ground  is  often  known  to  be 
filled  with  eggs;  that,  in  other  words,  the  earth  is  sown 
with  seeds  of  future  destruction,  it  is  surprising  that 
more  legislation  has  not  been  had,  looking  to  their  exter- 
mination. 

One  of  the  most  rapid  ways  of  collecting  the  eggs,  es- 
pecially where  they  are  numerous  and  in  light  soils,  is  to 
slice  off  about  an  inch  of  the  soil  by  trowel  or  spade,  and 
then  cart  the  egg-laden  earth  to  some  sheltered  place 
where  it  may  be  allowed  to  dry,  when  it  may  be  sifted  so 
as  to  separate  the  eggs  and  egg-masses  from  the  earth. 
The  eggs  thus  collected  may  easily  be  destroyed  by  bury- 
ing them  in  deep  pits,  providing  the  ground  be  packed 
hard  on  the  surface. 

THE  PROTECTION  OF  FRUIT  TREES. 

The  best  means  of  protecting  fruit  and  shade  trees  de- 
serves separate  consideration.  Where  the  trunks  are 
smooth  and  perpendicular  they  may  be  protected  by  white- 


OF   THE   FAEM   AND    GARDEN.  281 

washing.     The  lime  crumbles  tinder  the  feet  of  the  in- 

o 

sects  as  they  attempt  to  climb,  and  prevents  their  getting 
up.  By  their  persistent  efforts,  however,  they  gradually 
wear  off  the  lime  and  reach  a  higher  point  each  day,  so 
that  the  whitewashing  must  be  often  repeated.  Trees 
with  short,  rough  trunks,  or  which  lean  over,  are  not 
very  well  protected  in  this  way.  A  strip  of  smooth, 
bright  tin  answers  better  for  the  same  purpose.  A  strip 
three  or  four  inches  wide  brought  around  and  tacked  to  a 
smooth  tree  will  protect  it,  while  on  rougher  trees  a  piece 
of  old  rope  may  first  be  fastened  around  the  tree  with 
small  nails,  and  the  tin  tacked  to  the  rope,  so  as  to  leave 
a  portion  of  it  both  above  and  below.  Passages  between 
the  tin  and  the  rope  or  the  rope  and.  tree  can  then  be 
blocked  by  filling  the  upper  area  between  the  tin  and  tree 
with  earth.  The  tin  must  be  high  enough  from  the 
ground  to  prevent  the  'hoppers  from  jumping  from  the 
latter  beyond  it,  and  the  trunk  below  the  tree,  where  the 
insects  collect,  should  be  covered  with  some  coal-tar  or 
poisonous  substances  to  prevent  girdling.  This  is  more 
especially  necessary  with  small  trees,  and  coal-tar  will 
answer  as  a  preventive. 

One  of  the  cheapest  and  simplest  modes  is  to  encircle 
the  tree  with  cotton  batting,  in  which  the  insects  will 
entangle  their  feet  and  thus  be  more  or  less  obstructed. 
Strips  of  paper  covered  with  tar;  stiff  paper  tied  on  so  as 
to  slope  roof -fashion;  strips  of  glazed  wall-paper,  and 
thick  coatings  of  soft-soap,  have  been  used  with  varying 
success;  but  no  estoppel  equals  the  bright  tin.  The  oth- 
ers require  constant  watching  and  renewal,  and  in  all 
cases  coming  under  our  observation  some  insects  would 
get  into  the  trees,  so  as  to  require  the  daily  shaking  of 
these  morning  and  evening.  This  will  sometimes  have  to 
be  done  when  the  bulk  of  the  insects  have  become  fledged, 
even  when  tin  is  used,  for  a  certain  proportion  of  the  in- 
sects will  then  fly  into  the  trees.  They  do  most  damage 


282  INJURIOUS   INSECTS. 

during  the  night,  and  care  should  be  had  that  the  trees 
be  unloaded  of  their  voracious  freight  just  before  dark. 

It  has  been  found  that  the  whitewash  was  rendered 
still  more  effectual  by  adding  one-half  pint  of  turpentine 
to  the  pailful. 

DESTRUCTION   OF    THE   WINGED   INSECTS. 

The  complete  destruction  of  the  winged  insects, 
when  they  swoop  down  upon  a  country  in  prodigious 
swarms,  is  impossible.  Man  is  powerless  before  the 
mighty  host.  Special  plants,  or  small  tracts  of  vegeta- 
tion may  be  saved  by  perseveringly  driving  the  insects 
off,  or  keeping  them  off  by  means  of  smudges,  as  the  lo- 
custs avoid  smoke;  or  by  rattling  or  tingling  noises  con- 
stantly kept  up.  Long  ropes  perseveringly  dragged  over 
a  grain  field  have  been  used  to  good  advantage. 


INDEX. 


Abbot  Sphinx 221 

Abdomen 7 

Abraxis  ribearia, 199 

Achemon  Sphinx 219 

jSSgeria  cucurbitce 63 

"       exitiosa 183 

"      tipuliformis 206 

AgrUus  ruftcollis 213 

Agrotis  scandens 176 

telifera 65-80 

Aletia  argillacea 129 

Alypia  octomacnlata 226 

American    Bean-weevil 19 

American  Woodbine 219-220 

Ampelopsis  quinquefolia 219-220 

Amphicerm  bicaudatus 145 

Anasa  tristis 61 

Anchyloperafragarice 209 

11        vacdniana .* 260 

Anisopferyx  vemata 16*5 

Anthocoris  insidiosus 119 

Anthonomus  quadrlgibbus 165 

"          tuturalis .261 

Anthomyia  betce 67 

"        ceparum 53 

"         zeas 72 

Ants 10 

Aphides 264 

Aphis,  Orange 266 

Apple -161-164-165-166-1 70-171-1 72-174 

Apple  Cnrculio 165 

Apple  Maggot 164 

Apple-tree  . . .  .139-144-145-147-148-151 

Apple-tree  Bark-lice 147 

Apple-tree  Borers . .  139 

Apple-tree  Borer,  Flat-headed 144 

Apple-tree  Borer,  Round-headed... 139 

Apple-twig  Borer 145 

Apple-tree  Tent-caterpillar 151 

Apple-worm 161 

Army-worms 129 

Army-worm.  Northern. .  130 

Army-worm,  Wheat-head 134 

Ash-gray  Blister-beetle 90 

Ash-gray   Leaf-bug 118 

Asopia  costalis 137 

Asparagus-beetle 1 5-33 

Aspidiotus  conchifoivnis 148 

Harrisii 147 

283 


Aster 83 

Bag-worm 177 

Baridius  trinotatus 85 

Bark -lice,  Apple-tree 147 

Bark-louse,  Harris' —  .^47 

Oyster-shell 148 

Barley 124 

Basket-worm 177 

Bean 17 

"    English,  or  Windsor 91 

"    weevil , 19 

Beautiful  Wood-nymph 228 

Bees 10 

Beet 67 

"    Carrion  Beetle 67 

"    Fly 67 

Beetles 10 

"      Click 81 

"      Carrion 67 

"     Colorado  Potato 94 

"      Golden  Tortoise 106 

11     Grape-vine  Flea 241 

"      Spring 81 

"      Strawberry-leaf 208 

'•      Striped  Turnip 35 

"      Three-lined  Leaf 92 

"      Tortoise 101 

Blackberry.  210-211-212 

"         Borers 212 

"         Flea-louse ..211 

Gall 212 

Black  Blister-beetle 91 

Black-legged  Tortoise-beetle  109 

Black-rat  Blister-beetle 91 

Ulissus  leucopterus 112 

Blister-beetle,  Ash-gray 9() 

Black 91 

"  Black-rat  91 

Margined 92 

Striped 89 

Blue  Caterpillars  of  the  Vine 226 

Blue-louse 267 

Bogus  Colorado  Potato-beetle 97 

Boll-worm 66-63 

Borers    8 

"      Apple-tree 139 

"      Apple-twig 145 

"      Blackberry 212 

"      Clover-root 136 


284 


INDEX. 


Borers.  Currant-etalk 206 

"      Flat-headed  Apple-tree 144 

"      Peach 183 

"      Potato-stalk 83 

"      Round-headed  Apple-tree..  139 

"      Squash 63 

"      Strawberry  Crown 209 

Botys  bicolor 2:32 

Bntchus  faba 19 

pisi 56 

End-worm,  Cranberry 261 

Bug,  Chinch 112 

'•     Mealy 268 

"     Rose 245 

"     Squash 61 

Bugs,  True 12 

Bupestris,  Red-necked  313 

Butterflies 11 

Cabbage 21 

Butterfly,  Pot-herb 24 

Rape 22 

"   Southern  Cabbage 27 

Cabbage 21-24-27-29-31-:i3-35-37 

Cabbage-bug,  Harlequin 37 

Butterflies 21 

Plusia 29 

worm,  New 33 

Caloptenus  spretus 269 

Camel  Cricket.  234 

Camellias 252 

Campanotus  esurlens 265 

Canker-worm 166 

Caraway 55 

Carnation. .   83 

Carrion-beetle 67 

Carrot 21-55 

Carpocapsa  pomoneUa 161 

Cassida  anrichalcea 106 

"      UmUata 105 

"      guttata 108 

"      niyripes 109 

"     pattida 108 

Caterpillars 8 

Caterpillar,  Apple  tree  Tent 151 

"        Blue,  of  the  Vine 226 

"        Corn 66 

'•        Hog,  of  the  Vine  215 

'•       Red-humped 170 

Surface 79 

"       Tent,  of  the  Forest 155 

Zebra 31 

Cauliflower 21-31 

Cecidomyia  destructor I'.O 


Cecidomyia  trifolii  ..................  135 

Celery  ..............................  55 

Centipedes  .........................  82 

Cereal  Grains  ......................  112 

Chcerocampa  pampinatrix  .........  215 

Chafer,  Rose  ....................  .  .245 

Chalcid.  Four-winged  Fly  ..........  122 


Cherry,  Wild  ......................  154 

Cherry-slug  ........................  182 

Chinch-bug  ........................  112 

"•        False  ...............  61-117 

Chrysalis  ...........................    8 

Chrysobothrisfemorata  .............  144 

Cicada,  Periodical  ..................  190 

"     Seventeen-year  .............  190 

"     Thirteen-year  .............  196 

Cicada  septendecim  ...............  190 

"•    tredecim  .....................  196 

Classification  of  Insects.  .  .   .......  10 

Clastoptera  proteus  .................  261 

Click-beetles  .......................  81 

Climbing  Cut-worms  ...............  174 

Ciisiocampa  Americana  ............  151 

Ciisiocampa  syivatica  ...............  155 

Clover  ............................  135 

"    Hay-worm  ...................  137 

"    Root-borer  ...............  136 

"    Seed  Midge  ...........  .......  135 

Cock-chafer  .......................  75 

Cockle-bur  .......................  84 

Codling-moth  ......................  161 

Coleoptera  .........................  10 

Color-ado  Potato-beetle  .............  94 

"    Bogus  .......  97 

"  "  "    Parasite...  .101 

C&notracMus  nenuphar  ............  185 

Coreus  trislis  .....................    61 

Corn,  Indian  ............  •  ..........  67 

"     Seed  .........................  72 

"     worm  .......................  68 

Cotton-worm  .......................  129 

Cranberry  .........................  260 

"         Bud-worm  ...............  '261 

"        Fruit-worm  ..............  261  - 

"        Leaf-hopper  ............  ..261 

Saw-fly  ..................  261 

"         Vine-worm  .............  260 

Cricket,  Snowy-tree  ..............  214 

Crioseris  asparagi  .................  15 

Crow  .............................  77 

Cucumber  ........................  42-45 

Cucumber-beetle,  Striped  ..........  42 


IKDEX. 


285 


Curculio,  Apple 165 

"         Plum 185 

Currant 199-202-205-206 

"       Stalk-borer 206 

"      worm,  Imported 202 

"      worm,  Native 205 

Cut- worm,  Greasy 65-80 

Cut-worms 78 

"         '•     Climbing .   ...174 

J)actylopius  destructor 268 

Dahlia 83 

Datura. 99 

Desmia  maculalis 231 

Diabrotlca  12-punctata 45-63 

vittata 42 

Diastrophus  cuscutceformis 212 

"  nebulosus 212 

Digger-wasp 197 

Diplosis  tritici 123 

Diptera 12 

Dor-bug 73 

"      "  Trap  for 78 

Doryphora  decemlineata 94 

"        'juncta 97 

Dragon-fly 14 

Drop-worm 177 

Egg  8 

Egg-plant 99 

Eight-spotted  Forester 226 

Elater 81 

Elm... 166-171 

Elytra 11 

Emphytus  maculatus 207 

Encyrtus  inquisitor 268 

Erythroneura 259 

Eudnjas  grata 228 

unio 229 

Eufitchia  ribearia 199 

Fall  Web-worm 160 

False  Chinch-bug 117 

"      Wire-worms 82 

Fennel 55 

Flat-headed  Apple-tree  Borer 144 

Flea-beetle,  Grape-vine 241 

"      Wavy-striped 35 

Flower-bug,  Insidious 119 

Fly,  Beet 67 

"     Hessian... 120 

Forest  Tent-caterpillar 155 

Forester,  Eight-spotted 226 

Fruit  Trees 280 

Fruit-worm.  Cranberry 261 

Fungus  on  White  Grub 78 


Gall,  Blackberry 212 

"     Raspberry 213 

Garden  Vegetables,  Insects  Injuri- 
ous to 15 

Girdler,  Twig 171 

Golden  Tortoise-beetle 106 

Gortynia  nitida 83 

Gooseberry 199-202-205 

Gooseberry  Span-worm 199 

Goose-foot 33 

Grape,  174-215-219-220-224-226-228-229 
231-233-235-238-241-244-245-246-248- 
259. 

Grape-beny  Moth 238 

Grape  Leaf-folder 231 

"     Leaf-hopper 259 

"     Phylloxera 248 

Grape-vine  Flea-beetle 241 

"         "    Plume 235 

"         "    "Thrips." 259 

Grapotdera  chalybea 241 

Grass  Crops 112 

Grasshopper,  Hateful 269 

"          "       Rocky  Mountain  ...269 

Greasy  Cut-worm 65-79 

Grub,  White 206 

Grubs 8 

Haltica  chalybea 241 

"      striolata 35-110 

"Hanneton.". 75 

Harris1  Bark-louse 147 

Harlequin  Cabbage-bug . .  3T 

Harpaclor  cinctus .119 

Hateful  Grasshopper 269 

Head 7 

Heart-worm 23 

Heliothis  armigera 66-68 

Hellebore,  White 20 1 

Hemiptera 12 

Hessian  Fly 120 

Hickory 171 

Hog-caterpillar  of  the  Vine 215 

Honey-locust 91 

Horse-nettle 29-98 

Hylesinus  trifolii  136 

Hymenoptera 10 

Hyphantria  textor. 160 

Ichneumon  Flies 10-28 

Imago 9 

Imported  Currant- worm 202 

Indian  Corn 67 

Insects  Injurious  to  Garden  Vege- 
tables... ..  15 


I^DEX. 


Insects  Injurious  to  Root  Crops. . .  67 
Insects    of    Flower    Garden    and 

Greenhouse 262 

Introduction 7 

Insidious  Flower-bug 119 

Isosoma  hordd 124 

Ithycereus  N&ceboracensis 172 

lulus  multistriatus 83 

Ivy 262 

Jamestown  Weed 99 

Joint-worm 124 

June-bug 73 

"       "  Trap  for 78 

Kansas,  Year  of  Drouth 70 

Lachnosterna  fusca 73 

Lady-bird 101-268 

Lady-bugs 1"! 

Lambs-quarter 33 

Laphrygmafmgiperda 129 

Larva 8 

Leaf -beetle,  Strawberry 208 

Three-lined 92 

Leaf-bug,  Ash-gray 118 

Leaf -folder,  Grape 231 

Leaf-gall  Phylloxera . 248 

Leaf-hopper,  Cranberry 261 

"         "       Grape.... 259 

Leaf -roller,  Strawberry 209 

Lema  trilineata 92 

Lepidoptera 11 

Leucania  albUinia 134 

"        unipunctata 130 

Lice,  Plant 264 

Ligyrw 75 

Lilies 83 

Linden,  American 171 

Locust,  Rocky  Mountain 269 

"       Seventeen-year 190 

"       Thirteen- year 196 

London  Purple 100 

Louse,  Blue 267 

Lubber  Grasshopper 13 

Lytta  atrata .  91 

"     cinerea 90 

"     marginata 92 

"     murina 91 

"     vittata 89 

Macrodactylus  subspinoms 245 

Maggots 8 

Maggot,  Apple 164 

Seed  Corn 72 

Mamestra  picta 31 

Mangel  Wurzel .......  67 


Mantis  Carolina 234 

Many-banded  Robber 119 

Margined  Blister-beetle 92 

May-bug 73-78 

Mealy-bug, 268 

Meloiontha  vulgaris 75 

Melon-worm 48 

Midge,  Clover-seed 135 

Wheat 123 

Mignonette 21 

Millipedes 82 

Moths 11 

Moth,  Codling 161 

"  Grape-berry 238 

Mottled  Tortoise- beetle 108 

Muck-worm 75 

Mustard 39 

Myriapods 82 

Mytdapsis  pomicortids . .  148 

Nasturtium 21 

Native  Currant- worm 205 

Nematus  ventrieosus 202 

Nerve-winged  Insects 14 

Neuroptera 14 

New  York  Weevil 172 

Northern  Army  Worm 130 

Notodonta  concinna 1 70 

Nymph,  Beautiful  Wood 228 

"  Pearl-wood 229 

Nysius  destructor 61-117 

Oberea  perspiciUata 212 

(Ecanthus  niveus 214 

Oncideres  cingulatus 171 

Onion 52-53 

Onion-fly,  Black 52 

"  "  Imported 53 

Orange 205-267 

"  Aphis 266 

Orange-Rust 212 

Ortalisflexa  52 

Orthoptera 13 

Oyster-shell  Bark-louse 148 

Painted  Mamestra 31 

Pale-thighed  Tortoise-beetle 108 

Parasite  of  Colorado  Potato-beetle.  101 

"  "  Potato-worm 88 

Paria  aterrima 208 

Paris  Green,  Use  of 99 

Parsley-worm 55 

Parsnip 55 

Pea-weevil 56 

Peach 172-183 

Peach-borer....  183 


INDEX. 


287 


Pear 170-171-172-174-182 

Pear-slug 182 

Pearl  Wood-nymph 229 

Pelidnota  piinctata 244 

Pelidnota,  The  Spotted  244 

Penthina  mtivorana 238 

Periodical  Cicada 190 

Persimmon 171 

Phacellura  hyalinatalis 48 

nitidalis 45 

Philampelus  achemon 219 

satellitia 220 

Phylloxera,  Grape 248 

Phylloxera  vastatrix 248 

Pickle- worm 45 

Pieris  oleracea 24 

"      Protodtce 27 

"      rapce 22 

Piesma  cinerea 118 

Pimpla  conqnisitor 52 

Pumea,  rimosalis 33 

PlantLice 264 

Plum 171-172-185 

Plum  Curculio 185 

Plume,  Grape-vine 235 

Plusia  brasstcce 29 

Potato 83 

"    Beetle,  Colorado 94 

"    Stalk-borer 83 

"    Stalk-weevil 85 

"    Worm 86 

"    Worm  Parasite 88 

"    Sweet 102 

Pot-herb  Butterfly 24 

PnstipJiora  gross  alarm 205 

identidem 261 

Prunus  serotina 154 

Psylla  rubi  211 

Pterophorus  periscelidactylus 235 

Pumpkin 61 

Pupa 8 

Radish 39-61 

Rape  Butterfly 22 

Raspberry 212-213-214 

Galls 213 

Red-humped  Caterpillar 170 

Red-necked  Bupestris. 213 

RedSpider 210 

Reduvius .       ..12 

Robber,  Many-banded 1 19 

Rocky  Mountain  Grasshopper.. .    269 
Locust 269 


Rose  Bug 245-263 

"     Chafer 245 

"    Slug 263 

Root  Crops,  Insects  Injurious  to. . .  67 

Ruta-baga 32-110 

Saperda  bivittata 139 

Satellite  Sphinx 220 

Saw-fly,  Cranberry 261 

Scymnus  bioculatiis 268 

Seed-corn  Maggot 72 

Selandria  cerasi 182 

"        rosce 263 

Semiotelus  destructor 122 

Seventeen-year  Cicada 190 

SUpha  opaca 67 

Siphonophora  citrifolii 266 

Skunk 78 

Slug,  Cherry 182 

"     Pear 182 

"     Rose 263 

Small  Fruits 199 

Snow-berry 33 

Snowy  Tree-cricket 214 

Solanum  Carolinense 29-98 

"       mdongena 99 

Southern  Cabbage  Butterfly 27 

"       Grass-worm 129 

Span-worm,  Gooseberry 199 

Sphinx,  Abbot 224 

Achemon 219 

Satellite a 220 

Sphinx  Carolina 86 

"    quinquemaculata 65-86 

Spttsoma  Virginica 223. 

Spiracles 7 

Spotted  Pelidnota 244 

Squash 61-63 

"      Borer 63 

"      Bug 61 

Spring-beetles 81 

Stalk-borer,  Currant 206 

Stizus  grandis 197 

Strachia  histrionica, 37 

Straight- winged  Insects 13 

Strawberry. .  74-83-206-207-208-209-210 

"          Crown-borer 209 

Leaf-beetle 208 

"  Leaf -roller :..209 

Worm 207 

Striped  Blister-beetle 89 

"       Bug 42 

"      Cucumber-beetle 42 

"       Turnip-beetle 35 


288 


IXDEX. 


Surface  Caterpillars 79 

Swedes 110 

Sweet  Potato 102 

"      Beetle,  Two-striped . .  105 

Symphoricarpm  racemosus 33 

Tent-caterpillar,  Apple-tree 151 

of  the  Forest 154 

Tettigonia  vitis 259 

Texan  Cabbage-bug 41 

Thirteen-year  Cicada 196 

Thorax 7 

Three-lined  Leaf -beetle 92 

Ttiridopteryx  ephemcereformis 177 

"  Thrips  " 259 

Thyreus  Abbotii 224 

Tobacco- water,  Use  of 263 

Worm 86 

Tomato 66-67 

Tomato-worm 65-86 

Parasite 88 

Tortoise-beetles 101 

Tortoise-beetle,  Black-legged 109 

Mottled 108 

Pale-thighed 108 

Trap  for  June-bug 78 

Trioxys 267 

Trochilium  cucurbitce 63 

Tiypeta  pomonetta 164 

Turnip 21-38-110 

Beetle,  Striped 35 

Flea-beetle 110 

"       Fly '. HO 

Twelve-spotted  Squash-beetle 63 

"       Diabrotica 45 

Twig-girdler 171 

Two-Striped  Sweet  Potato  Beetle.  .105 

Two- winged  Insects 12 

Tyloderma  frayarice 209 

Uredo  rtiborum 212 

Uropoda  Americana 101 

Veratrum  album 204 

Ver  du  Cceur 23 

Vine- worm,  Cranberry 260 

Virginia  Creeper 219-220-224 

Vines,  Susceptibility  to  Phylloxera.258 

Wasps 10 

Wasp,  Digger 197 


Wavy-striped  Flea-beetle 35-110 

Web-worm,  Fall 160 

Weevil,  American  Bean 19 

•'        New  York 172 

Pea 56 

"        Potato-stalk 85 

Wheat 115 

Wheat-head  Army  Worm 134 

Wheat-midge 123 

Wheel-bug 12 

White  Berry 33 

White  Grub 67-73-206 

"         "    Fungus 78 

White  Hellebore 204 

Wild  Cherry. 154 

Wire-worms 81 

"         "      False 82 

Wood  Nymph,  Beautiful 228 

"        Pearl 229 

Worm,  Apple 161 

Army 129 

"       Bag 177 

"       Basket 177 

"       Boll 66-68 

"       Canker 166 

Climbing  Cut 177 

•'       Clover 137 

•'       Currant,  Imported 202 

"       Cut 78 

Corn.... , 68 

Drop 177 

il       Fall  Web 160 

False  Wire 82 

Gooseberry  Span 199 

"       Joint 124 

Muck 75 

"       Native  Currant 205 

'        Northern  Army 130 

Potato 86 

"       Southern  Grass 129 

"       Strawberry. -207 

"       Tobacco 86 

Tomato 65-86 

"       Wire 81 

Xon/hium  strumarium 8  i_ 

Yellow-bear,  Common 233 

Zebra  Caterpillar 31 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
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DAY  AND  TO  $1.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


MAY    1 





LD  21-100m-12,'43  (8796s) 


YB  09946 


